Stern, Howard
These pieces, instead, are a political defense of Covid-19 misinformation andbro jockracism. Robust public health measures to control the pandemic are seen by the right as left-wing government overreach, and therefore someone who criticizes them, however inaccurately, is on their team.
The Rogan affair is a spectacle by right-wing media to paint an advocate for a right-wing political cause as a victim. Meanwhile, right-wing tabloid vitriol has celebrated the punishment of speech by regular working people.
an 11 22
Over the years, Howard Stern has never been a straight-down-the-line liberal or progressive. The New York City-based shock jock leans liberal on social issues like abortion and gay rights, and he’s never been shy about having adult film stars on his show. But Stern is more conservative/libertarian on economics and has endorsed some moderate Republicans in the past.
Stern, however, is a scathing critic of the MAGA movement and the evangelical Christian right. And on Monday, November 7 — the day before the 2022 midterms elections — Stern lambasted Herschel Walker, who is trying to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia, as a prime example of the problems he has with MAGA Republicans.
The SiriusXM host, sounding frustrated during an angry rant, told listeners, “F*****g Herschel Walker. Holy f***. They're saying he's gonna win in Georgia. Are you f*****g dummies? …. They always talk about another civil war. I think there is gonna be one. I mean, how the f*** could you elect that guy?”
Stern continued, “You gotta be outta your f*****g skull… I gotta say, I mean, are you f*****g kidding me? … Would you really vote for this f*****g — I don't know what the f*** he is. I was gonna say mental case … but I don't even know if that's fair to mental cases. I just don't know."
Listen to the clip below or at this link.
joy reid book man who sold am; trump a regular on stern show; trump pretended to be his own publicist to pitch stories about his sexual exploits; he was broke when he played successful biz genius on the apprentice.
The Trump of the 1990s was known for his appearances on“The Howard Stern Show,” not the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, Sr.’s “The Old Time Gospel Hour” or the Rev. Pat Robertson’s “The 700 Club.”
an ah 921
Veteran shock jock Howard Stern, now 67, has grown increasingly fed up with far-right anti-vaxxers, noting all the MAGA radio hosts who railed against COVID-19 vaccines before dying from COVID-19. And Breitbart News' John Nolte has come up with a very imaginative conspiracy theory, claiming that Stern — along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — is using "reverse psychology" in the hope of keeping "Trump supporters" unvaccinated.
This conspiracy theory, reporter Matt Gertz stresses in Media Matters, shows the ridiculous and "toxic" lengths Nolte will go to in order to vilify political opponents.
Nolte believes that Stern and others are railing against unvaccinated supporters of former President Donald Trump because they hope that they will be offended, express their displeasure by remaining unvaccinated, get sick with COVID-19 and die from it. Even by Breitbart standards, that conspiracy theory is, Gertz writes, "far-fetched."
In an article published by Breitbart on September 10, Nolte wrote, "Do you want to know why I think Howard Stern is going full-monster with his mockery of three fellow human beings who died of the coronavirus? Because leftists like Stern and CNNLOL and Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and Anthony Fauci are deliberately looking to manipulate Trump supporters into not getting vaccinated."
Nolte went on to say, "If I wanted to use reverse psychology to convince people not to get a life-saving vaccination, I would do exactly what Stern and the left are doing…. I would bully and taunt and mock and ridicule you for not getting vaccinated, knowing the human response would be: Hey, fuck you, I'm never getting vaccinated! And why is that a perfectly human response? Because no one ever wants to feel like they are being bullied or ridiculed or mocked or pushed into doing anything."
In essence, he's blaming Democrats and advocates for the vaccine for conservatives' refusal to get the shot that could save their lives. It paints Trump supporters as victims with little agency of their own.
Gertz, in Media Matters, slams Nolte's conspiracy theory as not only ludicrous, but outright hateful.
"Nolte is saying that his readers have been deceived into thinking that they can own the libs by refusing the vaccine, when they can really own the libs by taking it," Gertz explains. "It's incredibly toxic for Nolte to posit, without anything resembling evidence, that the president is literally trying to kill a vast swath of Americans for political gain — asking Breitbart readers, 'In a country where elections are decided on razor-thin margins, does it not benefit one side if their opponents simply drop dead?'"
Nolte, according to Gertz, is so twisted in his thinking that it doesn't occur to him that Biden and Fauci are urging Americans to get vaccinated because they are trying to save lives.
"It is much more logical to interpret Biden and others taking steps to encourage higher vaccination rates as the result of them wanting more Americans to live," Gertz writes. "It makes more sense to view the 'bullying' Nolte perceives as coming from celebrities and others as genuine frustration at the anti-vax right endangering themselves and others. He is also curiously uninterested in the right-wing commentariat's role in discouraging vaccinations and undermining the vaccination campaign, making it unclear whether they are foolish dupes for falling for the 'reverse psychology' gambit or willing partners in the effort to kill their audience members."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Stern
...
Stern's first venture into television began when the Fox network sought a replacement for The Late Show, a late-night talk show hosted by Joan Rivers. Following discussions with the network that began in late 1986,[80] Stern agreed to five one-hour pilots that were produced for an estimated $400,000 with guitarist Leslie West as his band leader and comedian Steve Rossi as the show's announcer.[81] The show was subject to screen tests among focus groups in California,[82] after which Fox decided not to pick it up; one Fox executive described the pilots as "poorly produced", "in poor taste", and "boring".[83] Stern went on to host his first pay-per-view event, Howard Stern's Negligeé and Underpants Party, in February 1988.[70] The special was purchased in 60,000 homes and grossed $1.2 million.[84] After Stern joked about drugs being used backstage at the show, Michael Levine of the Drug Enforcement Administration complained to the Daily News which sparked media attention, though no investigation was made.[35] In October 1989, fans sold out Nassau Coliseum in four hours for Howard Stern's U.S. Open Sores, a live event that featured a tennis match between Stern and his producer Gary Dell'Abate following an on-air challenge.[35][70] Stern released both events for home video.
In its 1990 feature on Stern, Rolling Stone predicted he was "on the fast track to multimedia stardom".[35] He re-signed with Infinity Broadcasting that year to continue his radio show for five years, a deal that New York Magazine estimated was worth over $10 million.[66] In July 1990, Stern became the host of the Saturday night variety television show The Howard Stern Show on WWOR-TV, starring himself and his radio show staff. Initially produced as four, one-hour specials and broadcast during the summer, the show continued to air and entered syndication in 1991 to a peak of 65 markets across the country, including cities where the radio show did not air.[85] In the New York area, the show frequently beat Saturday Night Live in the ratings during the thirty minutes when the two overlapped. Stern ended the program after 69 episodes, in 1992. By this time, the radio show had been the subject of several fines issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over material it deemed indecent. As part of his rally against the FCC's actions, Stern released a compilation album of censored radio segments titled Crucified by the FCC in early 1991.[86]
Stern's rise as a popular radio and television figure in 1992 led to the first instance of his self-proclaimed title, "King of All Media".[87] In October that year, he became the first to have the number one morning radio show in the New York and Los Angeles markets simultaneously.[88] In the same month, Stern released Butt Bongo Fiesta, a home video containing the highlight feature of "butt bongoing", an act Stern described as "frenetic spanking in time to a rock record playing in the background".[89] The video was a commercial success; approximately 260,000 copies were sold for a gross of over $10 million.[86][90] In November 1992, Stern returned to Saturday night television as the host of The Howard Stern "Interview", a weekly one-on-one celebrity interview series on the E! network which ended in 1993.[91] Stern appeared at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards as Fartman, a fictional superhero originating from the humor magazine National Lampoon. Presenting an award with Luke Perry, Stern appeared on stage in the Fartman costume with his buttocks exposed. According to the trademark Stern filed for the character in October 1992, he first used Fartman at WWDC in July 1981.[92] Development for The Adventures of Fartman, a feature film based around the character, began in late 1992 with Stern reaching a verbal agreement with New Line Cinema to release it.[93] Screenwriter J. F. Lawton was hired to prepare an outline to a script and to direct the film with producer David Permut, which received a budget of $8–11 million. Lawton described the film as "a real comedy with a beginning, middle and an end with a strong story".[94] In 1993, the project was abandoned due to disagreements between Stern and New Line regarding the film's content, rating, and merchandising rights.[95][96]
1993–1994: Private Parts and run for Governor of New York
After The Adventures of Fartman was shelved, Buchwald started to pitch deals with book publishers as "there was a perception that [Stern] had taken a hit ... we thought of the book as something that would both produce income and suggest to people that Howard had economic clout".[97] In early 1993, Stern signed a deal with Simon & Schuster worth around $1 million to write his first book, Private Parts.[98] He spent the summer writing it with collaborator Larry "Ratso" Sloman and editor Judith Regan, calling the experience "the most challenging thing I have ever done in my career".[99] Upon its release on October 7, 1993, Private Parts was an immediate commercial success. The entire first print of 225,000 copies sold within hours of going on sale. In five days, it became the fastest selling title in the history of Simon & Schuster.[100] Over one million copies were distributed after two weeks.[90][98] Private Parts entered *The New York Times* Best-Seller list at number one and stayed on the list for 20 weeks.[101] Stern held book signings across the country with sessions lasting as long as seven hours.[102] The first, held in New York City, was attended by an estimated ten thousand people.[98]
Suddenly, I was a mainstream performer who had real clout in the marketplace—I was bankable. Immediately they would forget about my most controversial material and the fact that I could be real dangerous as a broadcaster.
— Stern on the impact of his 1993 book Private Parts[103]
In its twentieth anniversary issue in 1993, Radio & Records named Stern "the most influential air personality of the past two decades."[104] In February 1994, Stern was featured his first of three cover stories for Rolling Stone magazine.[102] That year, Billboard magazine added the Nationally Syndicated Air Personality of the Year category to its annual awards, based on "entertainment value, creativity, and ratings success";[105] Stern was awarded the title each year from 1994 to 2002.[106][107] In late 1993, Stern urged his listeners to elect Christine Todd Whitman as Governor of New Jersey after Stern promised to support the first candidate to phone in his radio show. In March 1995, following her election success, Whitman named a highway rest stop after Stern in exchange for his endorsement on Interstate 295, south of Trenton, New Jersey. A $1,000 plaque was installed at the stop, which was stolen days later and mailed to Stern.[108] The rest area closed in 2003 as part of budget cuts by Governor Jim McGreevey.[109]
[
](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%22Howard_Stern_Libertarian_Party%22_%288912489145%29.jpg)
Stern held his second pay-per-view special,The Miss Howard Stern New Year's Eve Pageant, on December 31, 1993. The show centered around a mock beauty pageant with celebrity judges to crown the first "Miss Howard Stern." An estimated 400,000 households purchased the show for a gross of $16 million, breaking the subscriber record for a non-sports event held by a New Kids on the Block concert in 1990.[90] The New York Post called it "The most disgusting two hours in the history of television".[110] The show was released for home video in early 1994 entitled Howard Stern's New Year's Rotten Eve 1994. It cost Stern a second television deal with Fox after network executives had disliked the content of the event and ceased discussions.[111]
During his radio show on March 22, 1994, Stern announced his candidacy for Governor of New York under the Libertarian Party ticket, challenging Mario Cuomo for re-election.[112] Stern planned to reinstate the death penalty, remove highway tolls to improve traffic flow and limit road work to graveyard shifts hours. Stern announced that once those three goals were accomplished, he would resign and pass the governorship to his lieutenant.[113] At the party's nomination convention on April 23, Stern won the required two-thirds majority on the first ballot, receiving 287 of the 381 votes cast; James Ostrowski finished second with 34 votes.[114] To place his name on the final ballot, Stern was obliged to state his home address and complete a financial disclosure form under the Ethics in Government Act. Stern applied for an injunction as he wished to avoid stating his income; the request was denied by a judge on August 2.[115] Stern withdrew his candidacy in an on-air press conference two days later, saying: "I spend 25 hours a week telling you all the most intimate details of my life ... One fact I've never revealed is how much I make and how much money I have ... it's none of your business".[116] In the gubernatorial election on November 8,Cuomo was defeated by**George Pataki**, whom Stern backed. In August 1995, Pataki signed a bill which limited construction on state roads to night hours in New York City and Long Island, which was named the "Howard Stern Bill" in honor of Stern originally proposing the plan.[117] Stern has since felt "firmly opposed" to the death penalty.[118]
In June 1994, Stern founded the Howard Stern Production Company for "original film and television production enterprises as well as joint production and development ventures". He intended to assist in a feature film adaptation of Brother Sam, the biography of comedian Sam Kinison written by his brother.[119] In the same month, the E! network began to air weekday highlights from Stern's radio show using cameras installed in the studio.[120] Howard Stern ran for eleven years; the last original episode aired on July 8, 2005.[121]
1995–1997: *Miss America and Private Parts film*
...
On December 16, 2000, Stern's last live radio show of the year, he announced the signing of his new contract with Infinity Broadcasting to continue his show for five years after four months of negotiations.[152] Forbes estimated his new earnings ranged between $17 million and $20 million a year.[153] Stern spoke at The Concert for New York City in October 2001 in a hazmat suit with his buttocks exposed similarly to his 1992 MTV Music Video Awards appearance.[154] In November 2001, Stern's production company had begun development on a weekly television sitcom titled Kane for CBS, originally intended to replace The Howard Stern Radio Show following its cancellation, with Ron Zimmerman as the writer of its pilot episode. Its premise followed "an oddball southern family and its strong-willed patriarch. The lead character's life is altered when his previously long-lost wife returns home to him and their group of eccentric children". The project was canceled before the filming stage.[150][155] In late 2002, Stern acquired the rights to the comedy films Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) and Porky's (1982) with Arclight Films. He expressed a wish to use a remake of the former as a launchpad for an unknown band. Under the deal, Stern was served as executive producer and was allowed to place "Howard Stern Presents" in the titles. He reasoned, "If I say to ... my audience, this is 'Howard Stern Presents', it means something to them ... it's going to be crazy. It means that it's going to be different, and they know I'm not going to be giving them any schlock".[156] Development for Porky's came to a halt in 2011 following legal action regarding the ownership of the film's rights.[157]
In March 2003, Stern filed a $100-million lawsuit against ABC, Telepictures and the producers of its reality television series Are You Hot?. He claimed its premise was copied from a radio show segment of his known as The Evaluators, whereby its staff and guests evaluate the bodies of contestants. Before the show aired, Stern was in talks of producing his version of the show.[158] A settlement was reached five months later.[159] In early 2004, Stern spoke of talks with ABC to host an hour television interview special as part of its Primetime series, but the project never came to fruition.[160] In August 2004, cable channel Spike ordered thirteen episodes of Howard Stern: The High School Years, an animated series set during Stern's childhood that he was to executive produce.[161] By late 2005, episode scripts and some test animation had been completed,[162] but the project was soon shelved. Stern explained the series could have been produced "on the cheap" at $300,000 per episode, but the quality he demanded would have cost over $1 million each.[163] Actor Michael Cera was cast as the lead voice.[164] Stern also worked on a pilot with Robert Schimmel for The WB, based around the comedian's real-life experience of falling in love with his daughter's best friend following his battle with cancer, but was not picked up.[165]
2004–2010: Signing with Sirius and terrestrial radio departure
The controversy surrounding the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, aired live on February 1, 2004, led to the government's crackdown on indecency in radio and television following a surge in audience complaints. The situation prompted tighter control over content by station managers which made Stern feel "dead" creatively.[166] After Clear Channel Communications and Viacom were fined for content the FCC deemed indecent; the situation culminated on October 6, 2004, when Stern announced the signing of a five-year deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, a subscription-based satellite radio service exempt from the FCC's broadcast regulations, starting in 2006. It is a move that has been regarded as the start of "a new era of radio." Stern's final live show on terrestrial airwaves aired on December 16, 2005.
Stern's first contract with Sirius was worth $500 million; a budget of $100 million a year for production, staff, and programming costs. In 2005, he formed two channels, Howard 100 and Howard 101, which launched in September, and formed Howard 100 News, a team of news reporters hired to report daily stories surrounding the radio show and those associated with it. Stern ended his eleven-year association with E! and secured a deal with the iN DEMAND network to launch Howard Stern On Demand, a digital cable video-on-demand service, to broadcast uncensored tapings of the Sirius radio show.[167] The service was relaunched as HowardTV in March 2006 and lasted until it was discontinued in December 2013.[168] A new, state-of-the-art studio and office space were constructed for the show at Sirius' headquarters in New York City.[169] On January 9, 2006, the day of his first broadcast on Sirius, Stern and Buchwald received a total of 34.3 million shares of Sirius stock worth $218 million for exceeding agreed subscriber number targets set when the contract was signed.[170] A second subscriber bonus was met in January 2007, and Stern received 22 million shares of stock worth $82.9 million.[171] In 2006, Time magazine included Stern in its Time 100 list,[172] who also ranked seventh on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list in June 2006.[173] When Sirius merged with rival service XM Satellite Radio in 2008 to form SiriusXM, the company paid Stern $25 million as per a clause in his contract.[174] In 2006, Stern filed a trademark for the name "King of All Media".[175]
On February 28, 2006, CBS Radio, formerly Infinity Broadcasting, filed a lawsuit against Stern, Buchwald, and Sirius, claiming that Stern misused CBS broadcast time to promote Sirius for unjust enrichment during his last fourteen months on terrestrial radio.[176][177] Stern held a press conference hours before the suit was filed; he stressed to the media that the suit was nothing more than a "personal vendetta" against him by CBS president Leslie Moonves, and a distraction to the failure of the company's radio division in the aftermath of his departure from terrestrial radio as it struggled to attain ratings as strong as Stern's.[178] A settlement was reached out of court in May 2006 which involved Sirius paying CBS $2 million for the rights to Stern's radio shows since 1985 as CBS initially prohibited Stern from playing them on Sirius.[179]
2010–present: Sirius contract renewal, *America's Got Talent, and third book*
In December 2010, Stern renewed his contract with SiriusXM to continue his radio show for a further five years.[180] His new deal allows him to work a reduced schedule from four to three live radio shows each week.[181] On March 22, 2011, Stern and Buchwald filed a lawsuit against SiriusXM for $300 million, claiming further annual bonuses were not paid despite Stern meeting subscriber growth targets.[182] On April 17, 2012, Judge Barbara Kapnick disagreed with their suit and dismissed it "with prejudice", thus preventing Stern and Buchwald from filing other suits over similar allegations against the company.[174] The pair filed an appeal to the decision, but it was rejected by an appeal court.[183]
By mid-2011, Stern had reduced his time playing chess and took up photography. Among his first shoots was taking layouts for Hamptons magazine in July.[184][185] He continued to shoot throughout the year, including WHIRL magazine and the North Shore Animal League,[186][187] and established his photography company Conlon Road Photography, a reference to the name of the road he lived on while growing up in Roosevelt.
Later in 2011, Stern announced his return to network television as a replacement for Piers Morgan as a judge on *America's Got Talent for its seventh season.[188][189][190] He had the show relocate to Radio City Music Hall in New York City to cater to his radio show schedule. Stern subsequently reappeared on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list at No. 26.[191] He continued as a judge on the show for the eighth[192] ninth[193] and tenth[194]seasons. Stern left at the end of the tenth season in September 2015.[195]*
Stern was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2012.[196] He has been openly critical of the organization.[197]
In August 2013, Stern and Simon Cowell shared first place on Forbes' list of America's highest-paid television personalities with $95 million earned between June 2012–13.[198] Stern and Cowell tied first place in the following year's poll with the same amount earned from June 2013–14.[199] In 2015, Forbes placed Stern as the world's highest paid media personality and the fifth highest earning celebrity worldwide, at $95 million.[200]
In February 2015, Whalerock Industries announced its partnership with Stern to set up a future direct-to-consumer digital "media hub" service, with a potential mix of free and subscription-based programming.[201] On December 15, Stern announced his new deal with SiriusXM to continue his radio show for an additional five years. The agreement also gives Sirius the rights to his radio and video archives for an upcoming on-demand streaming application until 2027.[202]
In April 2018, Stern inducted Bon Jovi into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[203]
In March 2019, Stern announced his third book for Simon and Schuster entitled Howard Stern Comes Again. It was released on May 14, 2019.[204]
FCC fines
Main article: Federal Communications Commission fines of The Howard Stern Show
Between 1990 and 2004, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined owners of radio station licensees that carried The Howard Stern Show a total of $2.5 million for content it considered to be indecent.[205]
Stern blamed the Bush administration for increased FCC fines and scrutiny of radio broadcasts in 2004 following the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy that February, and that year began openly promoting John Kerry's presidential campaign and urged listeners to oust Bush.[166][206]
Personal life
Stern met his first wife, Alison Berns, while at Boston University through a mutual friend. He featured Berns in a student film he made about Transcendental Meditation.[207][208] Stern wrote, "Within a week after our relationship began, I knew I was going to marry her".[209] They married at Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts, on June 4, 1978; both were 24 years old.[210] They have three daughters: Emily Beth (b. 1983), Debra Jennifer (b. 1986), and Ashley Jade (b. 1993).[211] In October 1999, they decided to separate.[212] Stern said, "I was totally neurotic and sort of consumed with work. I took work as the most important thing and the only thing".[213] He moved from the home he shared with Berns in Old Westbury, New York[214] into a 4,000-square-foot apartment in Millennium Tower in the Upper West Side of Manhattan which he bought in 1998 for $4.9 million.[215][216] The marriage ended in 2001 with an amicable divorce and settlement.[207] Stern has since bought a home in Southampton, New York on Long Island.[217]
In the early 1970s, Stern's parents began to practice Transcendental Meditation and encouraged him to learn. Stern credits the technique with helping him quit smoking, achieve his goals in radio, beat obsessive–compulsive disorder, and cure his mother of depression.[223] As of 1997, he continued to practice it.[224] Stern has interviewed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the technique, and thanked him for relieving his mother's depression.In the several months when Stern was single, he dated Angie Everhart[218] and Robin Givens.[219] In 2000, he started to date model and television host Beth Ostrosky.[220] He announced their engagement on his radio show on February 14, 2007.[207] They married at Le Cirque restaurant in New York City on October 3, 2008. The ceremony was officiated by Mark Consuelos.[221] In 2017, Stern purchased a home in Palm Beach, Florida for $52 million.[222]
Stern revealed his suffering with obsessive–compulsive disorder in Miss America. His condition originated while at university and continued into his radio career.[225]
As part of the Staff Revelations Game on his radio show in January 2006, Stern revealed that he underwent rhinoplasty and had liposuction under his chin in the 1990s.[226]
Stern is a supporter and fund raiser for North Shore Animal League America.[227] In 2012, Stern said that he had adopted a pescetarian diet.[228]
In 2019, Stern revealed that he had a cancer scare two years prior, after a growth was found on one of his kidneys. It turned out to be a benign cyst.[229]
...
===