Anthony Cumia will never stop speaking his mind

Anthony Cumia has a bit of a reputation for being a troublemaker. The shock jock, who grew up in Elwood and East Islip, is known for his outrageous antics with his former partner in crime, Gregg “Opie” Hughes, of Centerport, on both terrestrial (WNEW-FM) and satellite (SiriusXM) radio.

“I’m an absolutist when it comes to the First Amendment. I think everything is a topic for discussion,” says Cumia, 57, of Roslyn Heights. “There are people out there that will never accept me and that’s fine.”

Stories of Opie & Anthony’s infamous frat boy pranks are described in full detail in Cumia’s new memoir, “Permanently Suspended.” The title refers to his ban from Twitter for a racially charged tweet after getting punched by a woman in Times Square in 2014. The tweet also got him fired from his job at SiriusXM.

“I’ve gone on the air and implored people to get off social media,” says Cumia, who currently hosts “The Anthony Cumia Show With Dave Landau” on compoundmedia.com. “No one understands sarcasm, parody or satire. Anything you put out there is taken at face value and thrown back at you in transcript form.”

However, looking back on the incident, Cumia now realizes it was the wrong move.

“You don’t post any serious type of social commentary when you are insanely angry about a situation that just happened,” says Cumia.

Working as an air-conditioning and heating technician on Long Island, Cumia met Hughes in 1994 when submitting a song parody to WBAB, where Hughes was a DJ. The pair had chemistry and a partnership was soon formed.

“Opie was the definitive radio guy and I brought that kind of everyman thing to the show,” says Cumia. “I knew nothing about the technical aspect of radio.”

Growing up, fellow Long Islander Howard Stern played a large influential role in Cumia’s career.

“All I did was imagine how cool it would be to be in that group,” says Cumia. “The opportunity to be part of shock jock radio was more than a dream come true to me.”

O&A, as they were affectionately known, kept pushing the bad-boy barrier acting as a younger, faster version of the type of radio that Stern pioneered.

“We’d do these outrageous things and get a whole other bloc of people coming aboard,” says Cumia. “Ratings would go up, but then we’d have to entertain them with compelling radio to keep them on board.”

When asked if an “Opie & Anthony” reunion is in the cards, Cumia says: “I never say never. The Eagles, Van Halen and Guns N’ Roses all got back together, so who knows. I don’t see an instance in the foreseeable future where that would happen, but you just never know. Maybe.”

Although he’s getting older, Cumia doesn’t see any signs of mellowing with age.

“I’m very passionate about my opinions and willing to go to the boards when I’m in a debate,” says Cumia. “I’m constantly going to push the edge and speak my mind.”

By David J. Criblez

david.criblez@newsday.comDavidJCriblez

David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.