Howard Stern fans everywhere have consistently complained about how Stern blatantly dodges the Artie Lange topic. Since Lange’s suicide attempt, Stern suspiciously changes the subject every time Lange’s name is mentioned, which outrages fans. On today’s Show, Stern finally addressed the elephant in the room (no pun in intended). He said that he remembers how he felt when he first heard about Lange, and he “did a lot of self examination” about whether he contributed to his demise. He therefore tries to “be extremely careful” when mentioning Lange. Though Stern didn’t blatantly say this, I think he takes a lot of responsibility for Lange, because he continued to employ him and make fun of him at the height of his drug abuse. Stern still insists that he had no idea Artie was using drugs, but I’m not sure I believe it. First, Artie admitted to using drugs, and though he said he was getting clean, Stern always questioned his sobriety on the air. The staff even called Stern a hypocrite for letting Artie show up late or not at all, while holding the rest of the staff to a higher standard. In fact, Norm MacDonald called Stern an enabler on the air, and Stern said he liked Artie and wouldn’t fire him over his drug abuse. Artie ultimately left the show because Sirius kicked him out — not Stern. They basically forced Stern’s hand. I’m not blaming Stern, though I do think he should have fired Artie long before Sirius did.
In a recent interview, Artie Lange said he hopes to return to Howard Stern to promote his new book in November. Since Stern consistently refuses Lange’s requests to return, my guess is that this request won’t be any different. When previously asked about Lange’s return, Stern said, “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.”
