The Most Controversial Moments From ‘The Howard Stern Show’

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the Fourteenth Street Bridge, which connects Washington, D.C. to Arlington, VA. At the time, Howard Stern was a D.C. radio personality and decided to make an imaginary, on-air call to Air Florida.

During the call, Stern asked, “What’s the price of a one-way ticket from National to the Fourteenth Street Bridge? Is that going to be a regular stop?” The incident was among the first to give Stern increased attention as a ”shock jock.”

Decades later, Stern told David Letterman about that time in his life: “It would be pure id, total honesty, and 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.”

• He Called Lorena Bobbitt A ‘Psycho B*tch’

  In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt severed the penis of her abusive husband after he raped her, sparking a media frenzy and a criminal trial from which Lorena was acquitted.

  Howard Stern immediately sided with Lorena’s husband, John Bobbitt; he even paid for John’s “enlargement” surgery and had him on his show as a repeat guest. Stern repeatedly criticized Lorena Bobbitt’s appearance, questioned her story about years of abuse at John’s hand, and later said on-air, “No creep deserves what that psycho b*tch did.”

  Years later, Lorena Bobbitt said in an interview, “I think that Howard and many others missed tremendous opportunities to talk about these serious social issues.” Bobbitt added that she has never received an apology from Stern.

• He Made Racist Comments Following Selena’s Death

  

  Photo: hellboy_93 / Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0

  In April 1995, Howard Stern made light of the recent murder of 23-year-old Tejano singer Selena. During a broadcast following Selena’s death, Stern played some of her music dubbed over with the sounds of gunshots.

  Stern said of Selena’s work, “This music does absolutely nothing for me… Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul… Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth.” Stern went on to mock fans who publicly mourned Selena’s murder.

  Various Latino groups denounced Stern’s remarks as racist, saying his words hurt the Latino community at large. Executives at KEGL-FM in Dallas, which aired Stern’s program, also released a statement distancing themselves from Stern after the station’s switchboard was jammed with calls for a boycott.

• He Questioned Why The Columbine Shooters Didn’t Assault Their Female Classmates

  

  Photo: Qqqqqq / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

  The day after the shootings at Columbine High School in 1999, Howard Stern questioned why the two male shooters didn’t sexually assault some of their female classmates before taking their own lives.

  Stern said on air, “Did those kids try to have sex with any of those good-looking girls? 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.”

  Following Stern’s comments, immediate calls for his show’s cancellation proliferated. An editorial in the Denver Rocky Mountain News stated,  “Let Howard Stern make his millions in other broadcast markets. He does not belong in Denver.”

  The Colorado legislator also censured Stern and called for a public apology. Stern was subsequently dropped by numerous advertisers, including Geico, Priceline.com, and Mitsubishi.

• He Made Dana Plato Submit Her Hair For Drug Testing

  

  Photo: Diff’rent Strokes / NBC

  In May 1999, Diff’rent Strokes star Dana Plato died only one day after appearing on The Howard Stern Show. Plato, who had lived with drug addiction for years, claimed on the show that she was sober; however, when callers accused her of being “stoned,” she offered a lock of her hair to Stern’s team for drug testing.

  Stern claimed that as soon as the show ended, “[Plato] said, ‘I want my hair back.’ That’s when I knew she was lying.” Plato’s death was attributed to ingesting a mixture of Valium and painkillers.

  While some blamed the interview with Stern as a contributing factor in Plato’s death, Stern himself denied any culpability. “Maybe we gave her her last good time. She thanked me afterward. She was sweet, very nice,” Stern said of Plato.

• He Asked Emma Bunton, AKA Baby Spice, Inappropriate Sexual Questions

  

  Photo: Anna Victoria Studios / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

  In 2005, Howard Stern asked a series of inappropriate questions and made “creepy” remarks directed towards Emma Bunton, formerly Baby Spice of the Spice Girls. During the interview, Stern asked Bunton when she developed breasts, started menstruating, and when she lost her virginity.

  Bunton, in turn, refused to answer the questions.

  Stern’s lewd comments continued, including the following: “You’ve got a hot little body. I can see you girl-on-girl action, I can see you with two guys. I could see you doing a lot of things.” When Bunton stated that her father wouldn’t approve of Stern’s comments, Stern replied, “He loves it.”

  Stern also discussed Bunton’s outfit, saying, “It’s turning me on a little bit.” The clearly uncomfortable Bunton replied, “Really? Good. That’s nice for you.”

• He Badgered Robin Williams About His Alleged Affair With His Son’s Nanny

  

  Photo: Eva Rinaldi / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

  In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Howard Stern revealed that one of the biggest regrets of his career was an interview with Robin Williams he conducted in the early ’90s.

  At the time, a rumor was circulating that Williams had an affair years prior with his son’s nanny, who later became his second wife. During the interview, Stern badgered the actor about the allegations.

  Stern recalled, “I loved Robin Williams, but there I am beating him over the head with, like, ‘Hey, I hear you’re f*cking your nanny?’ I could have had a great conversation, but I’m playing to the audience.”

  Stern admitted his behavior was “arrogant” and that he was “stupid” to think Williams couldn’t be entertaining on his own. According to Stern, he never had the chance to apologize to Williams before the actor took his own life in 2014.

• He Spliced Together Clips Of Dolly Parton’s Voice To Fabricate Insensitive Comments

  

  Photo: Eva Rinaldi / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

  In 2008, Howard Stern played edited soundbites from the audiobook version of Dolly Parton’s memoir, My Life And Other Unfinished Business. The doctored audio made it sound as if Parton made racist remarks and inappropriate comments about young boys.

  When questioned about airing the spliced clips, Stern responded, “It’s obviously parody, and it’s funny as hell.”

  Dolly Parton said of the incident, “I have never been so shocked, hurt, and humiliated in all my life.” Parton never pursued any legal action against Stern, although this possibility was widely speculated at the time.

• He Made Inappropriate Comments About Aunt Jemima

  In 1992, Stern made a lewd reference to the character of Aunt Jemima, who appeared on pancake mix and syrup labels for decades prior to being removed for perpetuating racist stereotypes.

  Stern said at the time, “The closest I came to making love to a Black woman was, I masturbated to a picture of Aunt Jemima on a pancake box. I did it right on her kerchief.”

  In response to Stern’s comment, the FCC issued a $600,000 fine.

• A Graphic Discussion With Rick Salomon Forced His Move To Satellite Radio

  

  Photo: 888poker Spain / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

  In 2004, Howard Stern interviewed professional poker player Rick Salomon, specifically discussing the 2003 “sex tape” he made with Paris Hilton. During the interview, Stern allowed a caller to use the N-word multiple times, leading several outlets to drop Stern’s show; Stern also received a hefty fine.

  When the FCC came after Stern, he claimed they were carrying out a “McCarthy-type witch hunt.” As a result of the interview, Stern accepted an offer to join Sirius XM, which was in its infancy at the time.

  When Stern finally left CBS Radio in 2006, he used his final broadcast to promote his new show on Sirius, leading to a $9,000,000 lawsuit lodged by CBS CEO Leslie Moonves.

• He Said LAPD Officers ‘Didn’t Beat This Idiot Enough’ In Reference To Rodney King’s Beating

  

  Photo: Justin Hoch / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0

  On March 3, 1991, LAPD officers brutally beat Rodney King. When the officers were acquitted of the attacks, riots broke out in Los Angeles that lasted six days.

  In response to the riots, Howard Stern said, “I think Rodney King is a blight on society.” Stern also said in his memoir Private Parts that the officers should have beaten King more.

  When questioned about his comments regarding King and race in general, Stern said, “If I was going to be truthful on the air and talk about stuff that I knew, race would have to be included.”

• He Wore Blackface To Mock Ted Danson Wearing Blackface

  

  Photo: aitchisons / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0

  In October 1993, actor Ted Danson appeared in blackface at the Friars Club during a roast of Whoopi Goldberg, Danson’s girlfriend at the time. In response, Howard Stern also appeared in blackface, allegedly in an attempt to mock Danson, whom the media widely criticized.

  During the sketch, Stern used the N-word roughly a dozen times, and when asked about it years later, Stern said, “Would I go about it the same way now? Probably not.”

  Howard Stern also claimed on The View that he had never used the N-word on air, prompting the footage of him in blackface to resurface.