Revisiting Howard Stern’s Racist Past As Kamala Harris Interviews With Shock Jock

Howard Stern speaks onstage during the SiriusXM Next Generation: Industry & Press Preview at The Tisch Skylights at The Shed on November 8, 2023, in New York City. | Source: Bryan Bedder / Getty

Vice President Kamala Harris ’ current media blitz includes shock jock Howard Stern , the radio host who’s made a name for himself by trafficking in the outrageous to become one of the most successful and recognized media personalities in the U.S.

The Democratic nominee is scheduled to be interviewed by Stern on Tuesday, just hours after her primetime appearance on “60 Minutes” on Monday night, which followed Harris’ appearance on the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast one day earlier.

And while both of those previous media appearances had their detractors for various reasons, it may be the interview with the self-proclaimed “King of all media” that sparks the most backlash, what with Stern’s established and documented history of weaving racist themes and tropes into his shows’ edgy skits and material.

Those days may be long over for Stern – so he says – but they may also prove hard to forget, particularly when he’s set to interview someone who could become the first woman president who just happens to be Black and Asian.

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is pictured at ABC during a break during the recording of the show “The View” in New York City on October 8, 2024. | Source: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / Getty

Yes, Stern’s longtime sidekick Robin Quivers is a Black woman. And make no mistake, she has held her own in a predominately male atmosphere for decades. That said, Quivers – part cohost and part cosigner – has maintained a precarious and controversial role as a foil for Stern’s arguably racist rants, making it unclear whether she gives him a “pass” or keeps him in check.

Quivers wasn’t around to save Stern when he visited “The View” in 2019 and got called all the way out for his racist past by co-host Sunny Hostin . At the time, Stern was promoting a new book before Hostin reminded him how he “used the N-word a lot” on his show in the 1980s.

Stern admitted to allowing guests on his show like the KKK to say the N-word, but he vehemently denied saying it.

“I didn’t use the N-word,” Stern told Hostin.

But the internet doesn’t forget, and footage of Stern wearing blackface makeup while saying the N-word multiple times – even calling a Black person the N-word – still exists. Granted, in that instance, Stern was spoofing that time actor Ted Danson donned backface to roast his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg . However, that didn’t make it any less offensive or racist.

In 2020, Stern blamed such rhetoric on it being his “schtick” at the time.

He insisted that he has “evolved and changed” and suggested he would do things differently if he could do it over again.

But just last year, Stern erupted in yet another rant centered on the Black race.

During an episode in May 2023 , Stern suggested he was ignored by players during an NBA game where he sat courtside to watch the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

“They put me courtside, and the Black players won’t come over and say hello to me, but they go over to Spike Lee,” Stern said.

When Quivers asked him to expound, Stern said the players shouldn’t ignore him because he “grew up in a Black neighborhood.”

Stern went on to say he thought the players ignored him “‘cause I’m a white guy.”

He wondered: “Is everything racial now?”

In 2010, Stern was also accused of being racist for his commentary about actress Gabourey Sidibe , whom he called “the most enormous, fat black chick I’ve ever seen.”

Basketball icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson admitted in 2022 that he wanted to punch Stern during what was described as a “racist” interview they had back in 1998. Stern mocked Johnson’s diction as “Ebonics” and went on to claim he was “Blacker than” Johnson because he “grew up in a Black neighborhood.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s an excerpt from that unfortunate interview in Variety :

“I’m Blacker than you are, trust me. I’m the Blackest Black man you’ll ever meet. And I’m telling you right now, when I lived in Roosevelt, Long Island, which is a Black ghetto, everybody talked like this,” he said, before doing an impression of how he thought Black people spoke. “I was a big marble mouth, but it was fascinating, because I was one of the people. Why does everybody have to understand every word you say? Who cares what you got to say? No difference what you say.”

Stern eventually changed the subject to Johnson’s HIV status, which he’d disclosed at a 1991 press conference when he retired from the NBA.

“You had the life I wanted,” Stern said later in the interview, prodding Johnson about his sexual history before his diagnosis. “These were white chicks? Black chicks? What do we got? What did you prefer? You would have sex with everybody? At least you had fun getting AIDS.”

When Johnson pushed back against the notion he had “fun getting AIDS,” Stern shot back: “Believe me, brother, you did. It sounds like fun to me.”

Stern also said the N-word in a Rolling Stone interview published in 1994.

Not to be outdone, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) suggested Stern – who is Jewish – was “racist” for his on-air comments about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

“Mr. Stern’s contention that Palestinians ‘did not live there [Palestine]’ is a claim grounded in racist assumptions that the indigenous Palestinian population does not exist. Such baseless allegations only serve to foment violence and hatred, and do little to promote the interests of peace and reconciliation,” a PLO delegation said in 2005 .

Will Howard Stern tell Kamala Harris that he’s “Blacker” than she is because he “grew up in a Black neighborhood”?

Will he address the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel that has killed tens of thousands of innocent women and children?

Perhaps not since he has “changed.”

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