Russ Martin doesn't have a radio show, but he's found a new outlet to entertain the public.
The highly popular Martin was dropped from CBS radio 10 months ago. He's now paid a lot of money to stay off the air: $1.1 million per year, to be exact.
"I'm very bored," he said. "First few months, it was OK and you get past the holidays and first of the year and realize, 'I'm not really being productive. I'm pretty much a burden on society,'" he said.
How is he handling life without an audience?
The former 105.3 radio personality is making an independent film about a small-town police department.
This summer, Martin pleaded no contest to charges of domestic assault against his girlfriend.
"I've been through a lot," he said.
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Martin said the public doesn't know that his girlfriend filed a complaint about the police after his arrest. In it, she questions "the motivation of the Southlake Police Department" in handling the arrest.
"If I saw the police report and everything that came out, I'd go, 'Dude, he did it,' but the inside story is, there was never an investigation," Martin said.
A Southlake police spokesperson said the case is closed.
Martin and his girlfriend still live together, but their engagement is on hold. Martin said he doesn't know if they will ever walk down the aisle.
"That's still up in the air," he said. "This is been over a year, and it's been arduous."
When asked if he could be described as maybe verbally abusive but not physically abusive, Martin said, "Yeah, there's a point at which you should go, 'OK, I've gotten my point across. I should really shut up.' Sometimes, I don't."
Martin and his girlfriend have moved from his $1.75 million home in Southlake, where he was arrested, to $3 million digs in Collin County.
"My girlfriend and I talked about it, and we decided we had enough of Southlake. The magic was gone," he said.
Martin said he's itching to get back on the air, but will keep working on his film for now. At any rate, people will hear from him again soon.
"I'm under contract," he said. "I'm recession-proof."
