FOOTAGE of notorious shock jock Howard Stern in blackface has resurfaced as he prepares to interview Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The Sirius XM radio host is no stranger to controversy, with some branding his past behavior as racist, misogynistic, and homophobic.
Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Beth Ostrosky, and Howard Stern[/caption]
Trump and Stern have been friends for decades[/caption]
Among the high-profile incidents Stern, 70, has caught flack for, he joked about the Columbine gunmen, wore blackface, and got his long-time friend Donald Trump to talk about his “hot” daughter Ivanka.
In the run-up to his Tuesday afternoon interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, a video of Stern wearing blackface has been widely shared.
Harris’ decision to appear on Stern’s show, after avoiding a number of mainstream media appearances, has been slammed by Republicans.
Matt Terrill – former chief of staff for Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, told The U.S. Sun “no interview can fix” her issues connecting with voters.
The 1993 video of Stern was a reference to Ted Danson, who had recently worn blackface during the roast of Whoopi Goldberg, his then-girlfriend, at the Friars Club.
Stern wore black face paint and a wig similar to Ted Danson’s hair and also used a number of racial slurs in response to questions from his sidekick Robin Quivers.
Years later, Stern didn’t apologize for the sketch, but admitted he would do things differently.
“Would I go about it the same way now?” he said. “Probably not.”
In an appearance on The View, Stern claimed he had never used the N-word on air, which led to the clip of him in blackface to resurface.
People have reacted in outrage to the resurfaced video.
“I can’t believe I’ve never seen this until today,” one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote. “How did he get away with this? Wow.”
“There was nothing funny at all about this,” wrote another. “The ‘shock’ isn’t even funny. Who wrote this and thought it was good enough to put on the air?”
“I never understood why Howard Stern was so popular or why he became so successful,” wrote a third. “He wasn’t witty, he wasn’t warm, he had no insights.
“He was just boorish and crude,” they added.
Throughout his career, Stern has courted controversy. These are some of his biggest scandals.
You become a madman, and that’s who I was.
Howard Stern
TRUMP CALLS IVANKA A ‘PIECE OF A**’
In 2004, Stern’s long-term pal Donald Trump appeared on the show.
Trump tells the host, “My daughter is beautiful, Ivanka.”
Stern agrees, adding, “Can I say this? A piece of a**.”
“Yeah,” Trump replies.
In another appearance on the show from 2006, Stern asks Trump if Ivanka had ever got breast implants.
“No, she didn’t,” Trump responded. I mean, I would know if she did.”
When Stern said Ivanka looked “more voluptuous than ever,” Trump replied, “She’s actually always been very voluptuous.”
Stern and Trump have been friends for decades, despite their divergent political views.
In 2017, Stern said on his show that the job would be a “nightmare” for Trump because he wants “to be loved,” by everyone.
“He does want people to really love him,” Stern said. “And that drives him a lot. I think that he has a very sensitive ego.”
HOWARD STERN – RISE OF A SHOCK JOCK
HOWARD Stern began his radio career in the 1980s, and has been a prominent pop-culture figure for more than 30 years. A divisive figure, he has built up a huge following, but not without making some enemies.
- Stern was born in 1954 in Queens, New York.
- After getting into radio at college, he worked on local stations, joining WXRK in 1985.
- His morning show entered syndication the following year and aired in 60 markets, attracting 20m listeners at its peak.
- Stern became one of the highest-paid radio figures in 2004 after singing a five-year deal with Sirius worth $500m.
- Outside of radio, Stern served as a judge on America’s Got Talent from 2012 to 2015.
COLUMBINE SCANDAL
Days after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, Stern questioned why the two gunmen hadn’t sexually assaulted their female classmates before taking their own lives.
“Did those kids try to have sex with any of those good-looking girls?” Stern asked on air. “They didn’t even do that?
“At least if you’re going to kill yourself and kill the kids, why wouldn’t you have some sex?
“If I was going to kill some people, I’d take them out with sex.”
In the wake of his comments, Stern was dropped by numerous advertisers.
He also faced calls for a public apology from the Colorado legislator.
SELENA MURDER
In April 1995, Stern joked about the recent murder of Mexican-American singer Selena.
During a broadcast, he played some of her music with the sound of gunshots dubbed over it and made racist remarks.
“This music does absolutely nothing for me,” he said. “Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul.”
He added, “Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth,” before mocking her fans.
Stern faced multiple calls for a boycott, and various Latino groups denounced his comments as racist.
Stern, 70, is interviewing Kamala Harris[/caption]
RODNEY KING
The acquittal of the LAPD officers filmed brutally beating Rodney King in 1991 triggered six days of rioting in Los Angeles.
In the wake of the riots, Stern described King as “a blight on society.”
He also said in his memoir that the officers should have beaten King more.
PARIS HILTON
In 2004, Stern interviewed Rick Salomon about the “sex tape” he made with Paris Hilton the previous year.
During the interview, he allowed a caller to use the N-word multiple times, leading to his show being dropped by several outlets.
In the fallout from the interview, Stern left CBS Radio to join the new outlet Sirius XM.
Stern says he has mellowed with age and describes his earlier self as a “madman.”
Years later, he told David Letterman, “I had a lot of rage, and I was going to let that rage out.
“Which is great radio but really damaging to your personal life. You become a madman, and that’s who I was.”
