Highlights
- The offensive interview with Artie Lange on Joe Buck Live was unexpected and went off the rails.
- The interview caused a backlash.
- Lange addressed the controversy on The Howard Stern Show.
Most headlines about Howard Stern now focus on the radio host’s views, his feuds, and his incredibly revealing celebrity interviews. However, Stern’s many years as a shock jock played a key role in him building a massive fortune.
During Stern’s years as a shock jock, Artie Lange became a major part of his show. During their years working together, Stern and Lange were involved in many moments that offended people. As it turns out, however, Lange was involved in an even more offensive interview on a completely different show.
What Is Artie Lange’s Most Offensive Interview?
When it comes to questions like what is Artie Lange’s most offensive interview, the answer inherently is going to be subjective. One person may find one of Lange’s interviews extremely offensive while another listener finds it mild.
With that in mind, there is no way to definitively state that any interview is Artie Lange’s worst. That said, there is an excellent argument that Lange’s appearance on Joe Buck Live resulted in the worst interview in his career.
When Lange said offensive things on The Howard Stern Show, everyone expected that. However, when Lange was interviewed alongside Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis during the first episode of Joe Buck Live, it should have been tame. Unfortunately for Buck, the group interview was anything but tame.
After Buck asked Rudd about being harassed by paparazzi for TMZ at airports, he tried to engage Lange. That turned out to be a mistake as Lange instantly took the interview in another direction and the conversation would never truly get back on track.
Playing off Buck’s question for Rudd, Lange asked the interviewer if TMZ was his favorite website. Lange then went on to make a homophobic joke about what Buck’s second favorite website must be if he was a fan of TMZ.
After the camera cut to Buck, it was pretty easy to see that Buck looked embarrassed and unsure of how to respond. To Buck’s credit as an interviewer, however, he tried to keep the ball rolling by asking Sudeikis a question.
Unfortunately for Buck, however, Sudeikis didn’t engage much at that point which allowed Lange to go off on a rant in which he swore several times. Since Joe Buck Live was an HBO production, Lange could get away with the profanity, but it contributed to the offensive nature of the interview.
During Lange’s aforementioned rant, he took a moment to label himself a “well-known homophobic”. However, the crowd couldn’t hear Lange’s remark since they were applauding when he said that. Undeterred, Lange called himself a “well-known homophobic” yet again as soon as the crowd quieted down.
Lange then joked about Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo’s name rhyming with a word used to describe part of the LGBTQ+ community. At the time of the interview, Romo was linked to Jessica Simpson in the press which resulted in Lange talking about her next.
Seemingly delighted with himself, Lange stated Romo was dating a “fat chick”. From there, Lange said, “Jessica Simpson started out looking like Jessica Simpson. Now she looks like Chris Farley from those GAP sketches.”
When the show’s host yet again tried to change the subject, Lange interrupted to make fun of his segue. Buck’s response somehow inspired Lange to make a lewd joke about himself.
Remarkably enough, there was then a brief period in which Lange let other guests speak and the HBO show ended. However, after Joe Buck Live would finish on TV, the host would briefly interview his guests for footage that aired on HBO’s website.
During this segment, things actually seemed to devolve further. As Buck continued to try to interview his guests, his frustrations with Lange became very clear. At one point, Buck asked aloud if Lange could be removed. While Buck seemed to try to play that remark off as a joke, he seemed partially serious.
When Lange used his bottom lip and chin to hold a cigarette, Buck made a joke about his weight. “That is impressive. That is impressive. I think it’s in chin number four.” Lange then retorted that Buck’s talk show was such a failure it wouldn’t get to its fourth episode.
After Buck attempted to engage Rudd, the beloved actor only commented on how tense things had become. Lange then jumped in once again to make a homophobic comment. When Sudeikis commented, Lange told him “I’m from Jersey, watch what the f**k you say.”
Over the following minute, Buck implied that he was close to losing it on Lange. Lange only encouraged Buck to lose his temper, so they could “make some news”. Buck’s responsed that he would only want to make news like that with an A-list star.
Eventually, Sudeikis and Lange began trading remarks as things got tense between the two of them too. From there, things finally calmed down some as Rudd and Sudeikis took over the interview for a moment.
The perfect capper to the interview was when Buck asked NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin who was in the audience for comment. All Irvin said about the interview was “It’s refreshing to see white-on-white crime.”
What Was The Backlash To Artie Lange’s Most Offensive Interview?
When Artie Lange’s offensive appearance on Joe Buck Live aired, it was on HBO. During HBO’s history, the network has aired a slew of controversial shows including Euphoria, Oz, The Idol, and many more.
Given HBO’s willingness to air offensive material, nobody expected the debut episode of Joe Buck Live to upset the network. Amazingly enough, however, Artie Lange’s comments on Joe Buck Live were so offensive that the network reacted. While talking to The Post, HBO Sports president at that time, Ross Greenburg, called out Lange’s behavior.
“He wasn’t who we thought he was. We thought we were going to have an entertaining and kind of comical look at sports and celebrity — but we didn’t expect the guy to hijack the segment for his own personal gain.”
Greenburg also pledged that Lange was banned from the network going forward. “He can go do as many Howard Stern shows as he likes, but he will no longer appear on HBO Sports or ‘Joe Buck Live.’”
Lange would go on to address the controversy on The Howard Stern Show. According to Lange, he was told to “go nuts” on Joe Buck Live. After saying that Lange lashed out at Greenburg. “So go f- – – yourself, I don’t care how important you are in the business.”
Greenburg quickly responded to Lange’s comments on The Howard Stern Show.
“That’s regrettable. I said to him prior to the show that we need your energy if things get boring. He misconstrued that. I didn’t mean that we needed this, which was a far cry from energetic — it was a mean-spirited, vitriolic diatribe with guttural language.”
Source: NewsFinale
