Old Howard Stern Viral Clip Offends New Howard Stern Fans

Howard Stern was not always the Howard Stern you hear on the radio today.

The Howard Stern of today would have been a leading bit for the Howard Stern of old.

Stern morphed into the exact figure he used to warn against, an individual who fears challenging societal norms.

But a newly-released viral compilation of Stern’s history has reminded the internet of his past ways. A recent TikTok video has Stern facing backlash for how he used to cover and speak to women on his radio program.

Outrage obviously ensued.

Here’s the old Howard Stern, the one he wished you’d expunge from memory:

@lmpsluvbot

this man is so disgusting, i dont even understand how he still has a job?! |#howardstern #howardsternshow #lisamariepresley #lisamariepresleyonhowardstern #mariahcarey #fionaapple #courtneylove #sofiavergara #annanicolesmith #thehowardsternshow #cancelled #disrespecttowardswomen #uncomfortableinterviews #hollywood #celebrity #celebrities #90sand00s #lmpsluvbot #edits #fyp #xyzbca

♬ original sound – ༺𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞༻

Highlights include Stern telling Mariah Carey her “breasts are incredible,” informing Courtney Love he’d like to have sex with her, and asking Lisa Marie Presley if she was “wearing panties.”

The Wrap complied a list of angry tweeters who got ahold of the video and demanded Stern’s ousting. The outlet even asked SiriusXM if it had a comment on what Stern said to women two decades ago.

Feigning outrage is their oxygen. And Stern is still a name of sustainable value.

That said, the video is hardly damning. Stern was a comedic shock jock, the greatest to ever do it.

In fact, re-watching his cringy, perverted ways — that he leverage into a 1997 flick called “Private Parts” — reminded us just what made Stern must-hear radio.

Or as he called himself, the King of All Media.

That he was.

For decades, there was no one like him. He was funny and crude. He was unpredictable. He was unafraid of offending some stooge with a byline.

Howard Stern played by his own rules. And his rules only.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined owners of radio stations that carried The Howard Stern Show a total of $2.5 million between 1990 and 2004 for violations of indecency.

Stern’s brash, uncensored approach launched a new genre of media. He paved the way for the likes of Joe Rogan, Dave Portnoy, Clay Travis (as he says), and Alex Cooper.

So seeing him deteriorate into a controlled, frightened sponge is disheartening. He didn’t change because people became more offended. He changed because he started to care whom he offended.

Howard Stern mistook status for success.

Now, he can’t even get NBA players to acknowledge him courtside. Well, pre-Covid, that is. Stern admitted he still fears attending large venuses on account of the pandemic, three years later.

To some, the viral TikTok video is offensive. To others, it is refreshing — a reminder of how great Stern once was.