Howard Stern's treatment of handicapped people

[MetalMat]

I was listening to the Dino Costa show on Sirius Mad Dog Radio tonight and one of the callers, I believe his name was Mario, called in and Howard Stern came up in the conversation.

What came up was the fact that Howard Stern often goofs on handicapped people like Wendy the Retard and Gary the Retard for the show and Mario thought that Stern was a scumbag for doing this.

The people that called in to defend Howard said that he in fact does take care of the people, like send them money and what not and that they are living a better life because of Howard Stern, although multiple people said that these people are "too dumb" to realize that they are getting made fun of.

On the flip side, people opposed to Howard said that he is basically just using the fact that he supports them as an excuse to get away with making fun of handicapped people and is taking cheap shots for ratings.

Wondering what you guys think. Personally I don't really find many of the wack pack bits funny, outside of Eric the Midget. Since Artie Lang left I think the show has been sliding downhill, but Richard & Sal rock.

 

[OCGuy]

First he was racist because he would do black-impersonations. Then he was homophobic because he would make fun of gays.

He is very outspoken for gay rights, etc. He is just an entertainer, and plays to his audience.

He has given those unfortunate people something they never would have had a chance at, a tiny bit of notariety in the radio world.

 

[Baked]

In other words, he exploits mentally challenged people for personal profit. I don't see anything wrong with that in a capitalistic society. Mo money, mo bitches, mo blow.

 

[MetalMat]

First he was racist because he would do black-impersonations. Then he was homophobic because he would make fun of gays.

He is very outspoken for gay rights, etc. He is just an entertainer, and plays to his audience.

He has given those unfortunate people something they never would have had a chance at, a tiny bit of notariety in the radio world.

Ya I never thought he did anything wrong or took cheap shots when listening to him with the Wack Pack, I always thought of it as light hearted fun but maybe I am deaf.

 

[Skeeedunt]

maybe I am deaf

Has Stern coughed up any cash? If not I suggest you ask for your money back.

 

[dr150]

Stern makes fun of anyone who's a buffoon - retarded or not (i.e. John the Stutterer, Beetlejuice, etc)

Some of these handicapped people behave as badly as the non-handicapped douches on the show. All is fair game if they act in a way that most would make fun of.

Regardless, Stern supports lots of these asinine clowns regardless of their "abilities".

 

[FelixDeCat]

Howard who? Dont you mean Howard Hughes?

 

[AstroManLuca]

You can make your own judgment as to whether anything the guy says is actually funny, but if he gets ratings then more power to him. Last I checked it was legal to make fun of people even if it's in poor taste. If someone gets on his ass for being politically incorrect, I will laugh my ass off at them because it's Howard fucking Stern, and getting offended just encourages him.

People like Howard Stern make a living off of knowing when to poke fun and when to back off. There are limits to what he'll say. He's not going to go all Michael Richards and ruin his career.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I was a Stern superfan for many years but have more or less stopped listening since the Carolla podcast started in early 2009. Artie was not really contributing much after he got hooked on heroin in 2004 or so, but without him we get entirely too much Robin, and at this point it seems like all Fred adds is that obnoxious fake laugh. Meanwhile Howard has become the kind of person he has always mocked - an out-of-touch rich guy with a blonde trophy wife, a mansion in the Hamptons, and a prime time network TV gig. Not really a fan of the show anymore.

As to the topic at hand, I think there's no question he has enriched the lives of the Wack Pack members, even if a lot of the humor of them comes at their expense. I am not offended by his use of the word "retard" to describe them, though reasonable minds can differ on that.

 

[edro]

They (not all retards, but the ones on his show) were essentially worthless members of society.
He has made them beneficial to society.

Howard gets ratings/money, they get money, audience gets laughs, it's all a win.

How is it any different than retards on any other show (Glee, Corky, etc).
Retarded people are funny... you might as well make the best of a bad situation.

 

[FoBoT]

...if he gets ratings then more power to him.

does sirius/xm even have ratings? how do they know how many peoples listen to him?

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

does sirius/xm even have ratings? how do they know how many peoples listen to him?

No, one of the chief complaints of Ron Bennington and Opie. No one has any idea how many people are listening to anything.

 

[MetalMat]

does sirius/xm even have ratings? how do they know how many peoples listen to him?

The best gauge they have are subscribers. I might be totally wrong but I believe that the subscription numbers can be a little deceptive because they include any trial subscriptions and rental car subscriptions.

It was also brought up on Opie & Anthony that while Howard Stern did bring in a good audience, Sirius included the number of people that were brought from XM after the merger so those numbers are inflated as well.

They can probably get a good idea from Advertisements as well, lord knows that Howard has more than enough live reads during the show.