Bert Weiss shares his 6 favorite ‘Bert Show’ moments: Six Flags, Mariah Carey
Bert Weiss is wrapping nearly a quarter century as the host of the reliably entertaining “The Bert Show" on Friday, retiring after providing thousands of hours of on-air laughs, relationship craziness and charitable work.
The syndicated show, heard in 20 markets, is based out of Q99.7 in Atlanta. Q99.7 has not yet announced what will replace the show come Monday.
An Atlanta resident since 2001, Weiss made the surprise retirement announcement on air a month ago and has spent his remaining shows celebrating his legacy while producer Tommy Owen surprised him with guests such as Jenn Hobby and Melissa Carter, key members of his on-air team during its formative years.
Weiss, 58, spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week about some of the most notable moments on the show, from its early years airing on an underdog station on a weak signal to becoming one of the most impactful radio shows in Atlanta history. (Q100 moved from 100.5 to the much stronger 99.7 in 2008 based on the show’s popularity. The show went into syndication in 2010.)
Blowing off Mariah Carey
On July 18, 2001, “The Bert Show” was just four months old, still a fledgling experiment on a new pop station trying to gain listeners. Weiss considered it a coup to book Mariah Carey to talk about her latest single “Loverboy.” “I’m promoting it and promoting it,” he said.
She didn’t call in at 8:10 a.m. as she was supposed to, so Weiss moved on to other topics. At 9:12 a.m., when she finally did call, a clearly miffed Weiss and company informed her on-air that her time had passed. They had other things to talk about.
The annoyed pop princess then mumbled, “I’m just going to have a bowl of cereal, then,” before the line went dead. Her record reps were livid, but Weiss was not apologetic, even 24 years later. “I wasn’t rude,” he said. “We just moved on.” That story, recounted in the AJC’s Peach Buzz column at the time, “put us on the map.”
Usher vs. Bert
In early 2004, TLC member Rozonda “Chili” Thomas spoke to “The Bert Show” about her breakup with Usher. “Usher never dumped me,” she said. “I’ll just put it to you this way, Usher did the ultimate no-no to me.” When Weiss interpreted that as cheating, she agreed: “I don’t ever want to see him again.”
A few weeks later, Usher went on “The Bert Show” himself and said “as a result of that interview, we’ll probably never get back together” because the show “provoked” her to diss him.
Weiss objected, telling the pop star, “You can’t put that on us!”
Two decades later, Weiss said he is still surprised he argued with Usher: “I don’t know why I dug in. In a case like that, I usually run from confrontation. But I don’t like it when people don’t accept responsibility for their own actions.”
In 2024, Usher came back on the show and said his conversation with “The Bert Show” in 2004 seeded his Grammy-winning album “Confessions.” “We were all floored,” Weiss said.
Six Flags freebie traffic debacle
In April 2007 during spring break, “The Bert Show” worked with Six Flags Over Georgia to offer free admission to the park for anyone who got there by 9 a.m., dubbing the promotion “Ditch Day.”
Word spread, and when gates opened at 6 a.m., the park hit its capacity of 15,000 people within 15 minutes. Nearby I-20 backed up through three counties, and surface streets west of Atlanta were frozen. Eager to get into the park, kids bailed out of idling cars on the highway and walked in the pre-dawn chill to the park — only to be turned away because the park was full.
“People called saying they missed doctor’s appointments and chemo treatments because of the traffic,” Weiss said. “But it definitely showed we had become a bigger deal.”
Celebrity call-in contest: Muhammad Ali vs. Justin Timberlake
In 2008, “The Bert Show” held a “Who do you know?” contest. Callers who convinced a celebrity to call into the show could win $5,000 for themselves and another $5,000 for a charity of the celebrity’s choice.
The magnitude of the stars who called in shocked Weiss: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Bette Midler, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Connery and Jimmy Carter were among the highlights.
But the competition ultimately came down to pop star Justin Timberlake and boxing legend Muhammad Ali. The team decided the criteria of who would win would be based on what younger, female members of “The Bert Show” audience might prefer, so the majority of the show’s jurors picked Timberlake. Weiss strenuously objected, and when “The Bert Show” replayed the decision 17 years later, “all my anger and frustration came back,” he said with a chuckle.
Justin Bieber’s first radio interview
Discovered by Scooter Braun and imported from Canada to Atlanta, Justin Bieber was just 15 years old when he began visiting radio stations to promote his first single, “One Time.” He made his very first stop at Q100’s “The Bert Show.”
“The kid had attitude even back then,” Weiss said. “I remember him saying, ‘I’m single and ready to mingle!’”
He has since revisited the show multiple times.
10 years of sending letters to troops
In 2007, “The Bert Show” created the Big Thank You charity event, collecting a whopping 375,000 letters from listeners and supporters to send to American troops stationed overseas during Thanksgiving.
With so many troops still stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2011, the show resurrected the event and kept it going annually through the rest of the decade. In all, the show collected more than 1.5 million letters using hundreds of volunteers and support from the United States Postal Service.
“The fact we could galvanize so many people to take action is something that still blows my mind,” Weiss said.
About the Author
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
