Ben Shapiro explains departure from AM 770 KTTH

By Jacob Rummel, AM 770 KTTH producer

After 20 months of giving a voice to conservative values every afternoon in Seattle, KTTH Radio’s Ben Shapiro is leaving the station.

“It’s been an absolute pleasure and honor to work with KTTH,” Shapiro said, “It’s been an absolute pleasure and honor.”

Shapiro announced his departure during his Wednesday show, citing recent family events as the driving factor.

“I mentioned my daughter, Leah, she had a health problem,” Shapiro said, “It turned out that she had a big hole in her heart that needed to be fixed through open-heart surgery.”

The surgery was successful; Shapiro said Leah is running around and she doesn’t even require medication. However, Shapiro’s responsibilities at home have increased.

“I’m needed at home to watch her very closely to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself,” Shapiro said. “I have to scale back on some of my commitments.”

Even so, Shapiro assured listeners it won’t be the last they hear of him.

“I’m going to continue to work with KTTH,” Shapiro said. “I’m still going to come to events, we’re still doing Freedom Series events, you’re still going to hear me as a guest on other shows.”

This isn’t the end of The Ben Shapiro Show podcast either, although the host admitted updates will be shorter and less frequent.

Since Shapiro started at KTTH in January of 2014, featured guests included presidential candidate Ted Cruz, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, women’s equality activist Lilly Ledbetter, and, most recently, author Ann Coulter.

“The folks at KTTH have been wonderful about this,” Shapiro said. “I do a number of other jobs and this is the one that, unfortunately, had to take the hit.”

Shapiro’s final show will air August 28 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“It’s been spectacular to be able to connect with so many of you,” Shapiro said. “I really feel like we’ve all become a family together and we’re fighting the fight together.”