Adam Carolla rang in the New Year with a huge announcement: News girl and sidekick Alison Rosen is gone from popular podcast “The Adam Carolla Show.”
Filling in — for now, at least — is KLSX’s Gina Grad, in kind of a long-term “audition” role, Carolla admitted.
On his Monday podcast, which was recorded on Sunday, Carolla said: “Alison Rosen is not gonna be part of this program in 2015. Why? Nothing personal. I like Alison Rosen. I think Alison Rosen is very talented and very funny. I think she’s a great writer and I think she’s a great comedic voice, but I don’t think she’s a great sidekick. I think she’s a good sidekick, but I don’t think that’s her calling.
“I sat next to her for a number of years, and I tried it out, and it just wasn’t a fit, as far as sidekick,” he continued. “It’s not a personal thing, it’s not a creative thing, and it’s not even an ability thing — I just feel like she wasn’t sidekick material, which is probably a good thing.”
“I don’t know if I’m good sidekick material either,” Carolla said. “I felt she was better as a lead than a sidekick.”
Rosen was the show’s “news girl” from Jan. 2011 through Dec. 2014.
“Bald” Bryan Bishop and others remain with the program. Rosen’s own podcast, “Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend,” will continue.
On Sunday’s “ARIYNBF,” Rosen briefly commented on the news: “I’m no longer working with Adam Carolla,” she said. “I’m going to be taking my podcast with me and doing it on my own. I’m really excited about it, it was a wonderful four years, but I am super-excited about this next chapter.
“So, I’m OK, the podcast is OK, everything is going to be OK,” she continued. “In a way, it’s like I’m building my own pirate ship now,” she said, referring to Carolla’s own independent podcasting metaphor.
As for her replacement, Carolla concluded his own statements in the following manner: “Gina Grad is here, and she’s gonna be here, and hopefully she will stay here.”
Grad and Carolla first crossed paths at KLSX when she was working for Tim Conway Jr.’s radio show.