C.J.: The things that set off latest Jeff Dubay rant

At least one of Tom Barnard's attorneys, Ron Rosenbaum, doesn't believe Jeff Dubay's social media meltdowns are being fueled by controlled substances.

Dubay's well-documented crack addiction, for which he was arrested in 2008, did not prevent him becoming an independent podcast contractor on the Tom Barnard Network (TBN). But the brief affiliation ended abruptly last week when GM Sean Barnard parted ways with Dubay for undisclosed reasons.

Dubay did not take well to this latest stall in his career, which has included stops at KFAN and ESPN1500. Dubay went on Twitter and Facebook and posted ugly screeds aimed at Sean, nephew of Tom, the longtime KQ92 powerhouse whose business ventures include podcasting.

Dubay has apparently been shuttering and firing up those social media accounts, although I am told the only thing a Barnard attorney (not Rosenbaum) asked him to do was remove the posts about Sean. Thanks to CityPages.com's Aaron Rupar, who unearthed Dubay's deleted social media remarks, I have concluded that Jeff took enormous umbrage at being asked to take a drug test after the podcast deal fell apart.

"I was not the one who asked him to take the drug test, that was our attorney," Sean Barnard told me Friday. "After we severed the relationship three hours later [Dubay] called back and said I've got a personal drug test and I want you to come to my place and watch me take it. I said, 'Absolutely not.'

"[Dubay] was never an employee of ours," Sean stressed. "We did a revenue share. He owns his own company. He could be doing a podcast of his own right now, he's just not doing it. I thought it was crazy everybody kept saying it was a firing. No. Now, he did fire his co-host for this [podcast] Wednesday morning, Di Murphy. It didn't work out. I don't appreciate his comments because none of his comments on Facebook and Twitter are true."

Sean also told me: "I put $1,000 of my own money in for Jeff's show. Gave him some personal cash to get by and he burned me. It would be stupid of me to cancel a guy's show because of the fact I'll never recoup that money. Oh well. I still care about Jeff. I am not a coldhearted guy. I can't rip people."

"It was a bad day for everybody — Jeff and Sean, who are both very good people," Rosenbaum told me. "I'm Tom's personal lawyer. I was only peripherally involved. … I've always liked Jeff Dubay and think only the best of him. But Sean Barnard is a person of the highest honesty and integrity and he was eviscerated on the Internet and he didn't deserve it. Tom Barnard, who also gets a bad rap in this town, was also filleted on the Internet. He wasn't involved in any of this. Tom went out of his way to give Jeff an opportunity. I have known, helped and been a friend of Jeff Dubay's all the way back … probably 25 years. [Dubay] was on Tom Barnard's podcast network and they were happy to have him there. For reasons I can't go into, it was determined that it would be best for everybody involved to end [Dubay's] relationship with the Tom Barnard podcast network."

When asked if he thought this spelled the end of Dubay's career in this market, Rosenbaum said: "Jeff is a talent and I know a number of stations have always been interested. I hope he's able to find employment. … I've seen it written in a number of places that Jeff has relapsed. I have no reason to believe that. I don't believe that. I believe Jeff is clean."

I asked Rosenbaum to ask Dubay to call me but have not heard from him.

Dubay doesn't seem to have internalized one of the life lessons that goes along with gigantic missteps.

Call it the concept of the Friendship Bank Account. When you have made massive emotional withdrawals from friendships, you will probably be required to make even greater emotional deposits. You will find some of these unfair and unnecessary, but over a very long period of time they are necessary to restore trust in those relationships.