Artie Lange isn't the only celeb who can't
stand Howard Stern, but the animosity he holds
toward his former boss is undeniably personal.
For nearly a decade, Lange served as one of
Stern's sidekicks on The Howard Stern Show,
until Lange's battle with drug addiction led
to his departure in 2009.
Since then, Lange has staged a comeback doing
stand-up, starring on HBO's Crashing, and
writing his second New York Times bestselling
memoir.
Between this former comedy duo's complicated
showbiz history and their on-and-off friendship,
let's take a look at why Artie Lange hates
Howard Stern so much.
The reasons might just surprise you.
Dealing with drug addiction
As Artie Lange's struggle with addiction and
depression worsened throughout his tenure
on Howard Stern's show, it increasingly affected
his work.
In his 2013 memoir Crash and Burn, the comic
wrote:
"My performance […] slid into s--t after
eight solid years.”
He'd noticeably lost his timing by 2009 and
often fell asleep on air, leading to an indefinite
hiatus for a rehab stint.
Afterwards, Stern decided against inviting
Lange back on the show.
He told Rolling Stone,
"I don't even feel strong enough within myself
or that I'd be doing the right thing by him,
because I don't want to do the wrong thing
for Artie.
I just want Artie to stay alive."
Lange has long-credited Stern for supporting
him in his sobriety, but that doesn't mean
the radio DJ knew exactly what the comedian
was going through at the height of his addiction.
"He didn't know the extent of it.”
“Yeah.”
“There's no way he could've."
He's critical of Stern
Artie Lange can be counted among the more
outspoken critics of The Howard Stern Show's
more politically correct direction during
the 2010s.
On his Artie Quitter podcast in December 2016,
he claimed that Stern "abandoned" his fans
in exchange for more mainstream success.
Stern hit back on his show in 2015, saying
“I hear that all the time, that I'm PC.”
“Oh, that’s what they said?”
“Yeah, I’m politically correct.
All right, so I'm politically correct, what
can I tell you?"
Is Stern "obsessed"?
Artie Lange may not mince his words when it
comes to Howard Stern, but the exact opposite
is true for Stern, who's refused to replace
and rarely discusses the comedian.
On his podcast Artie Quitter, Lange said,
"He's obsessed with me.
He doesn't bring up my name and I was there
for 10 years, that's calculated.”
However, Stern's ongoing silence on the matter
may just be a sign of lingering pain over
the difficult situation.
Searching for closure
Ever since he left The Howard Stern Show,
Artie Lange has yet to feel a sense of closure.
As he's lamented in multiple interviews over
the years, this is partly because he's had
little contact with Stern despite his attempts
to reconnect.
"I've called him four times, probably three
or four times and left voicemails, and he
never called me back.”
Feeling that he deserves better than both
literal and figurative radio silence, the
comedian went on,
"I think, just, all that, just, maybe I earned
ten minutes off the air to just let me say
in person 'I'm sorry' and hear him out and
hug and say goodbye."
Social media drama
Artie Lange's seemingly one-sided feud with
Howard Stern came to a head in May 2018 when
he threatened to post the shock jock's personal
phone number on social media if he didn't
send him $2,500, posting,
"Warning Howard Stern: Howard it's Artie.
I've had enough of your s--t!
Sorry it's come to this."
It's unclear what exactly brought all this
on or whether Lange was even serious about
following through.
However, a source told Radar Online that it
was all in good fun, saying,
"He's joking!
He has a soft spot for Stern.
It's like a love-hate relationship, but Artie
will always love Stern."
Their complicated dynamic
After leaving The Howard Stern Show, Artie
Lange felt as if he'd lost a father figure
in Stern.
In an interview with PhillyVoice, he said
"We hate each other's guts.
It had a terrible ending.
And that's what happens — then you go into
rehab and, you know, they tell you, you lose
friends."
According to Lange, Stern essentially cut
him out of his life completely.
Strangely enough, Lange has often attributed
this move to their father-son relationship
dynamic.
"He did think of me I think a little bit like
a son type of thing."
Perhaps because of this, Lange still feels
"totally influenced" by Stern.
He told NJ.com,
"I feel his moves all the time, especially
in interviewing.
And without him, there would be nothing right
now without Howard."
Common ground
Artie Lange and Howard Stern's falling out
has left many fans wondering whether these
two will ever bury the hatchet, but the two
were willing to put away their differences
to support a close friend.
The famous comedy duo last saw one another
in person in 2012, while visiting their colleague,
Robin Quivers, in the hospital amid her cancer
battle.
"It was if I saw him two minutes ago.
He said, you know, ‘Hey, we gotta make Robin
laugh.’
That’s what he said to me.
So, we put everything aside for that, and
we spoke as if we were on the air for an hour,
just laughed like crazy.”
Reportedly, the two haven't seen each other
since that day.
