Jellio: Let’s just get into it. A lot of people want to know. You were a big part of the show for seven-and-a-half years. You went to their Vegas trips. You did a lot of the interviews. And then one day you’re gone, right when people are getting really wrapped up in your whole gambling problem and everything. Now whenever it comes up, Howard doesn’t say ‘Boo’ about it. So, from KC, what was the deal behind you leaving the show? Go ahead. Here’s your full opportunity.

KC: Well…I didn’t leave. I got fired.

Jellio: Why?

KC: Basically, you know, if you listen to the show, you basically heard me self-destruct over the years. And towards the end, it got real bad. I mean, I admitted to having hallucinations, and then they
started with the medication, all of this trying to fix the depression. And all this other stuff. And then you combine that with drugs and alcohol. And I went to rehab. The loony bin. And after that, I went to an outpatient, and the kicker was I had to stay clean, and I didn’t. So, immediately, when I screwed up, Tom got on the phone and fired me.

Jellio: Who did?

KC: Tom.

Jellio: After you got out of rehab, and you didn’t stay clean, Tom called you and fired you?

KC: Right. And Howard had nothing to do with it – I don’t work for him.

Jellio: He didn’t have any say?

KC: No – I’m not hired by him.

Jellio: Were you coming in late? Were you missing days of work?

KC: Towards the end, it was just…I had missed some days. Then when I checked into Payne Whitney, the mental hospital, which is fucking unbelievable – it was just, you know, losing your freedom is fucked up. Because once you’re there, you can’t leave.

Jellio: Where’s that?

KC: That was my fear…It’s the loony bin.

Jellio: In what state?

KC: New York.

Jellio: OK.

KC: You can’t leave. You know, they have to…it’s basically a jail. So, what I did was, I slept about 22 hours out of the day.

Jellio: When you say loony bin, this was actually a mental health facility that you checked yourself into?

KC: Well yeah, I went, thinking I could leave at any time. But once I got in there, they said I couldn’t leave.

Jellio: Was it more drug rehab, or a mental health facility?

KC: No, it’s a mental hospital. They deal with substance abuse.

Jellio: Wow. Right in the city?

KC: Right in the city. I would suggest to anyone – get your shit straight. Do not go to one of those places. The scariest thing is losing your freedom.

Jellio: How long were you in there?

KC: I was there, for, I think over a week.

Jellio: So they gave you some time off from the show, you went in there, and afterwards, it didn’t take, and Tom said that’s it, you’re done.

KC: No, after that I was required to go to an outpatient, which was from 6 to 8 every night.

Jellio: Was it blow?

KC: No, no, no. It was everything – the main thing was the depression, and trying to fix that with drugs, alcohol and gambling. And then…

Jellio: Now, you mentioned gambling. You know what the rumor was – you worked a deal with Golden Palace behind the station’s back.

KC: Yeah, there couldn’t be a bigger bunch of bullshit. You know, the reason why that makes me angry is I fucking lost that money.

Jellio: You really did? You really blew that entire…

KC: It makes me sick, too.

Jellio: How much was it?

KC: $330,000.

Jellio: You won $330,000 and you did seriously lose it?

KC: Fuck yeah. I lost it in, I think, a month.

Aquaman: Well that explains the depression part.

KC: Yeah, exactly.

Jellio: Yeah. I’m a little bummed out right now.

KC: Every time something would bother me, I would wait for…you know, I wanted to blow my brains out. The only thing that would distract me was drinking, drugs and then gambling. I would just forget about shit for a while.

Jellio. Once Howard found out about it – he had to hear about this from Tom – how did he take it? What did he say to you?

KC: I don’t know. I think what he’s doing is he’s really just being a good friend and a good guy by not talking about it. Because I think what they’re doing is by him not talking about it, if I wanted to get a job somewhere else, something like that, I mean that probably doesn’t look good.

Jellio: But now, because a lot of people who cared about you were asking about it, you’re putting it out on your DVD.

KC: I was really touched. I was totally touched by it. And it totally renewed my faith in people when I thought they were all fucking insects.

Jellio: He is watching your back by not talking about it.

KC: I think so. I think that’s what it’s about. I could be wrong. I don’t know. All I can tell you is I’ve got nothing bad to say about him. I just think he’s a great guy. He gave me an opportunity for seven years, and I’ve got nothing but great things to say about him.

Jellio: One last thing on this topic and then we’ll get off it. You mentioned September 11th was part of it.

KC: Yeah, it was fucked up even back then. When he said that we could leave, I went home and…

Jellio: He busted your chops about it.

KC: Yeah. This is how bad it was, even back then. The minute somebody said I could leave work, I was gone. And this is a horrible fucking thing to say, and I’m ashamed of it, but as soon as I got home, I turned on the horse racing channel. It was a day off. It was a snow day. And I started drinking and doing all this other bullshit. Then I found out that the track got cancelled, so then I went home.

Jellio: So if the track hadn’t been cancelled on September 11th, you just would have continued drinking…

KC: In my apartment. Drank and gambled.

Jellio: Are you over it?

KC: Yeah. You know what it is, man? Again, that’s probably why it’s good that I work this much. Because, again, another distraction. We all have distractions.

Jellio: Absolutely. Well, you sound a lot better, man. You’ve got the DVD and the comedy. It sounds like you’ve got a lot going on, which is really good to hear.

KC: It’s really good. And the thing that got me over it was, I came out to start over, I promised my family and my girlfriend I’d go to a rehab that was in-house. You know what I mean? Somewhere warm. So I came out here, and went into Newport Coast Recovery, which has got people working there that are just fucking saints. People are great. They care about people. And, you know, they’ll show you it doesn’t have to be that way. And I’m still seeing – there’s a doctor that really helped me out, too – he ran a bunch of tests and found out that I had depleted…the depression had eaten away every ounce of testosterone that I had. Yeah, hormones were all fucked up. And everything. But they leveled me out with all that shit.

Basically, I want to thank my family. All the people who showed me their support. Those fucking letters. And those e-mails. I didn’t expect any of that.

Jellio: That’s cool. We’ll see if we can’t get some more on the site when we post this story. This has been great.

=================================================

That's the story folks. Pretty cool, right? I gotta hand it to him, If you're a Howard fan, you know that sometimes KC came off as the fraternity guy who got off on ragging on anyone in striking distance. But we all grow up, and it's how we handle the real world that shows what we're made of. Props KC, and good luck! You're dealing with some serious issues, and it takes guts to do that.

To anyone out there reading this, for only the cost of feeding a family in Somalia for a month, you could buy a dvd with naked chicks and guys farting, and we'll all be one step closer to proving to Tom Cruise that anti-depression drugs really work.

And, if you want to listen to some of the interview itself, check out an 8 minute edited excerpt we've put together for our audioblog.

-Jellio

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