TV groom's trip to area stormy

By PAMELA DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 1, 2000

TAMPA -- Rick Rockwell's recent visit to the Tampa Bay area caused more of a ruckus on local radio than in the comedy club.

The brouhaha started with a lawsuit Rockwell said he planned to file against WFLZ-FM 93.3's MJ & BJ Morning Show for giving listeners his home telephone number and urging fans to place harassing calls after he declined an early morning interview.

The morning show staff denies giving out Rockwell's number and says it probably was another radio show (not from the Tampa Bay area) that did it.

The threat from Rockwell, the spurned groom from Fox's Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?, is just the kind of fodder a morning radio show loves.

During Rockwell's first appearance at Side Splitters comedy club in Tampa, WFLZ morning show sidekick Uncle Fester sought a recorded comment from Rockwell about the possible lawsuit but had his microphone taken away by WQYK-FM 99.5 afternoon on-air personality Dave McKay.

Rockwell was in the area to make appearances and perform at the comedy club on behalf of country station WQYK.

"I think Fester is a teddy bear and he was gracious enough to back down when I took the microphone out of his hand," McKay said. "But it was a radio ambush. It wasn't the right time to do it. Rockwell had fans who wanted to sign autographs and take photos."

Fester was at it again before Rockwell's second appearance at the comedy club. While asking questions in the parking lot, Fester claims Rockwell pushed an "industrial, hard rubber, all-season garbage can" toward him, hitting his hand, wrist and forearm.

Fester, whose real name is Domenick Siciliano, filed battery charges against Rockwell and recently saw a physician for his injuries.

Mike Culotta, WQYK promotions director, was in the area when the trash can incident happened and said it was not directly hurled at Fester.

"As we approached a trash can, it was one of those "somebody has to go right and somebody has to go left' type things," Culotta said. "Then you hear the trash can go down. At no point did anyone stop and throw anything at anyone."

"Instead of saying no comment he threw the can at me," Fester says. "In his comedy act Rockwell says he came home from his honeymoon to 50 media trucks in his front yard. So one fat guy with a microphone shouldn't be too threating to him."

Rockwell couldn't be reached for comment.