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Phil Valentine

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Phil Valentine
Born
Philip Carr Valentine

(1959-09-09)September 9, 1959
DiedAugust 21, 2021(2021-08-21) (aged 61)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
EducationEast Carolina University
Connecticut School of Broadcasting
Occupation
  • Talk radio host
  • political activist
  • writer
  • actor
EmployerWWTN
RelativesTim Valentine (father)

Philip Carr Valentine (September 9, 1959 – August 21, 2021) was an American conservative talk radio host, author, and actor. He broadcast daily on WWTN, a Cumulus Media station on Nashville, Tennessee.[1] He was known in Tennessee for leading protests against a proposed state income tax.[2]

Known outside of Tennessee for his public skepticism regarding the dangers of COVID-19, Valentine became severely ill with the disease and was put on a ventilator in July 2021. That August, he was sustained with an ECMO machine for several weeks before he died.[3][4]

Personal life

Valentine was the son of Betsy Carr and former six-term Democratic U.S. Representative Tim Valentine of North Carolina. Valentine grew up in Nashville, North Carolina,[5] and graduated from Northern Nash High School. After attending East Carolina University (ECU), he entered a career in radio. ECU did not offer a broadcast major, so Valentine enrolled in the Connecticut School of Broadcasting branch campus in Charlotte, North Carolina. Valentine cohosted the podcast PodGOATs with his eldest son.[6]

Books

Valentine was author of three books, The Conservative's Handbook: Defining the Right Position on Issues from A to Z ,[7] Right from the Heart: The ABC's of Reality in America,[8][9] and Tax Revolt: The Rebellion Against an Overbearing, Bloated, Arrogant, and Abusive Government.[10] Valentine was active as a community organizer to stop the passage of a proposed Tennessee state income tax. His book, The Conservative's Handbook, is a revision of Right from the Heart and the foreword for both books were written by Sean Hannity.[11]

Film and television

In August 2009 Valentine, who has denied climate change,[12] launched production of his documentary, An Inconsistent Truth, a rebuttal to Al Gore's movie, An Inconvenient Truth. His movie premiered on January 26, 2012, and opened on January 27, 2012. For the first two weeks after the release, Truth was the top-grossing movie per screen in the country. At the time, it was playing at a single movie theater and earned a total of $36,439 for those two weeks.[13] It picked up second place at the Appalachian Film Festival in Huntington, West Virginia, in February 2012. The movie also won the Excellence in Filmmaking award at the Anthem Film Festival[14] and won Best Documentary at the Nevada Film Festival in Las Vegas.[15]

In 2015, Valentine landed a role opposite Kevin Sorbo in the movie The Secret Handshake.[16] Valentine's other movie credits include a supporting role in the 1998 movie A Letter from Death Row, written and co-directed by Bret Michaels of the rock group Poison. He had a cameo role in the 2014 film Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt?.[17] He was also the voice of a radio talk show host in a 2003 episode of ABC's Threat Matrix television drama. Valentine made numerous appearances on Fox News Channel and MSNBC.[18]

Awards and honors

In 2015, Valentine won first place in the Colorado Film Festival[19] and was a finalist in 10 other film festivals including The Beverly Hills Film Festival,[20] The American Movie Awards,[21] and The Atlanta Film Festival for his screenplay "Derek Dickens & The Dream".[22]

Valentine received numerous AIR Awards (Achievement in Radio) in Philadelphia and Nashville and the Gold World Medal for Best Talk Show Host from the New York Festivals International Radio Awards.[23]

Valentine was often listed in the Talkers Magazine "Heavy Hundred" as one of the 100 most influential talk show hosts in America and is listed by Talkers as one of the 100 most influential talk show hosts of all time. For 2015, he was ranked No. 32 on the Heavy Hundred list.[24]

COVID-19 skepticism, subsequent illness and death

Valentine had questioned the need of vaccinations on his radio program. As part of this, he wrote and performed a comedy song, "Vaxman", a parody of the 1966 Beatles' song "Taxman", altering the lyrics to criticise vaccination initiatives.[25][26] His song included the lines:

"Let me tell you how it will be, and I don’t care if you agree, Cause I’m the Vaxman, yeah I’m the Vaxman. If you don’t like me coming round, be thankful I don’t hold you down.”[27]

CNN reported that he had compared vaccination status badges worn by medical workers with the yellow badges German Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis.[28]

On December 17, 2020, Valentine blogged that he believed his own chance of dying from COVID-19 was "probably way less than one percent."[28] On July 11, 2021, Valentine acknowledged he had COVID-19 and bragged that it would not be a problem, admitting he might take a day off from his radio show merely as a "precaution."[29] On July 23, he was hospitalized in serious condition, which later turned critical. After contracting the virus, he regretted not being more vehemently ‘pro-vaccine’, according to his radio station. On July 28, he was placed on a ventilator[30][31][32] to focus on treating his lungs.[33] On August 1, it was reported that his family would keep him alive on an ECMO machine.[34] He died on August 21.[35]

Valentine's brother said, in an interview shortly before Valentine's death, that Valentine regretted not getting vaccinated and not encouraging others to do so as well.

"He recognizes now that him not getting the vaccination has probably caused a bunch of other people not to get vaccinated," he said in the interview. "And that he regrets."[36]

References

  1. ^ "WTN Official Website". Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  2. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey (July 29, 2001). "Radio talk shows generate wave of dissent in Nashville". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Los Angeles Times News Service. p. 12A. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  3. ^ "Conservative Talk Show Host Battling COVID-19 Regrets Disseminating Vaccine Skepticism". www.wbur.org. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  4. ^ Zhao, Christina (August 21, 2021). "Conservative Radio Talk Show Host Phil Valentine, Who Downplayed Vaccines, Dies of COVID". Newsweek. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Behind the head shot: Phil Valentine". The Tennessean. March 13, 2005. Archived from the original on March 23, 2005. "I saw the movie poster for One Million Years B.C. [a 1966 film] when I was 7. I was never the same."
  6. ^ Brad Schmitt (June 20, 2019). "Phil Valentine shows softer, gentler side in his new father-son podcast". The Tennessean. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  7. ^ ISBN 978-1492622352, OCLC 1001855278
  8. ^ "Phil Valentine, Cumberland House Publishing sign book deal". Nashville Business Journal. February 18, 2003. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  9. ^ ISBN 978-0425198575, OCLC 54425232
  10. ^ ISBN 978-1595550019, OCLC 57193259
  11. ^ "The Phil Valentine Show Official Website". Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  12. ^ After Covid Diagnosis, a Conservative Radio Host Sends a New Message. The New York Times, July 25, 2021.
  13. ^ "'An Inconsistent Truth' stays No. 1". NashvillePost.com. February 8, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
  14. ^ "Anthem Film Festival". Archived from the original on January 17, 2013.
  15. ^ "Nevada Film Festival". Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2012.
  16. ^ "The Secret Handshake movie".
  17. ^ Bond, Paul (June 19, 2014). "Ron Paul to Make Acting Debut". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  18. ^ "The Phil Valentine Show official website". Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  19. ^ "Colorado Film Festival". Colorado Film Festival.
  20. ^ "Beverly Hills Film Festival". Archived from the original on June 2, 2015.
  21. ^ "American Movie Awards".
  22. ^ "Phil Valentine's Screenplay Wins Festival Competition". AllAccess.com. July 22, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  23. ^ "About Phil Valentine". Penguin Publishing. Retrieved May 22, 2012.
  24. ^ "Heavy Hundred". Talkers Magazine.
  25. ^ Murphy, Paul P. (July 23, 2021). "He sang 'Vaxman' song, now he's hospitalized with COVID". The Mercury News. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  26. ^ Levintova, Hannah. "A conservative radio host mocked the vaccine. Now he's hospitalized with COVID". Mother Jones. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  27. ^ Pengelly, Martin (July 24, 2021). "Tennessee radio host doubted and mocked vaccines – now he has Covid". The Guardian. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Murphy, Paul P. (July 24, 2021). "Family says conservative radio host has changed his tune on vaccines after he was hospitalized with Covid-19". CNN. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  29. ^ "Phil Valentine - Yes, the rumors are true. I have COVID". Facebook. July 11, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  30. ^ Gander, Kashmira (July 24, 2021). "Conservative Radio Host Phil Valentine Hospitalized With COVID: 'Fighting for His Life'". Newsweek. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  31. ^ Masters, Hamilton Matthew; Heyward, Giulia (July 25, 2021). "After Covid Diagnosis, a Conservative Radio Host Sends a New Message". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  32. ^ Benson, Marshall (July 28, 2021). "Conservative Nashville radio host Phil Valentine now on a ventilator". WSMV Nashville. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  33. ^ Gander, Kashmira (August 10, 2021). "Conservative Radio Host Phil Valentine COVID Update As Family Says Lungs 'Critical Issue'". Newsweek. Newsweek Digital LLC. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  34. ^ Richards, Zoe (July 30, 2021). "Conservative Radio Host Battling COVID Needs to Fly to Hospital With Oxygen Machine: Brother". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  35. ^ Breslow, Josh; Illers, Ethan (August 21, 2021). "Conservative talk show host Phil Valentine dies after COVID-19 battle". WKRN News 2. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  36. ^ Rose, Andy (August 22, 2021). "Conservative talk show host Phil Valentine dies after battle with Covid-19, his employer says". CNN. Retrieved August 22, 2021.

Further reading

External links

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