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This Time It's Personal: Howard Stern's Latest Appearance on Letterman
Howard Stern made an appearance Monday night on The Late Show with David Letterman. And, this time it was personal, not just a shill show promoting Sirius. It was Stern's first network appearance since the CBS Radio lawsuit filed 2 weeks ago. It was also his first time back on the CBS-owned Late Show since he left Infinity/CBS Radio in December after 20 years.
Viewing his appearance on the show, we witnessed one angry King of All Media.
Instead of being a glorified salesman for Sirius (like he was in December), Stern was back to his surly self doing what he does best: battling his enemy. His typical Letterman appearances over the years (usually at least once a year for the last 15 years) have him bashing the FCC or any of his critics. Sometimes he has shown up simply to self-promote. Last night, he was stating his defense while also going on the attack. He's always succeeded being in a "us vs them" position; last night, it seemed more personal: Howard vs. Les.
The way Stern explained it, this battle would be a perfect pay-for-view event in a Las Vegas casino boxing ring and Michael Buffer's "Let's get ready to rumble!"
Jointblog reader and radio program director/blogger Gregg Henson passed along links streaming the appearance (thanks, Gregg) (Windows Media Player):
Segment 1
Segment 2
Based on the pre-broadcasted show taping last night, Scott Collins reported on Stern's appearance on The Los Angeles Times' TV industry blog Channel Island.
He got it right...it was all that and more. His report is below:Howard Stern showed up at CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" taping Monday evening in New York, wearing a "I Hate Les Moonves" T-shirt, complete with a picture of the CBS chief and his wife, "Early Show" co-host Julie Chen.
Some choice tidbits from the Stern, who's battling a $218 million fraud and breach of contract suit from CBS:
-- "I believe you are working for one of the biggest jerks on the planet," Stern tells Letterman. "You've worked for jerks and bullies who hide behind their press agents. Les Moonves is a bully."
-- Stern: "I'm not going to let Les Moonves do to me what he did to Dan Rather." He also suggests that Moonves fired former "60 Minutes" executive producer Don Hewitt.
-- When Letterman brings up Moonves' success at CBS, Stern shoots back: "Don't defend him. He'll sue you next."
-- Referring to Moonves' past acting career, Stern says: "CBS took a third-rate 'Love Boat' actor and made him CEO."
-- Stern also denies CBS' contention of a "secret deal" that enriched Stern at his new employer Sirius, and calls the lawsuit "a vendetta."
-- Letterman gets Stern to talk a bit about his plastic surgery, with before-and-after photos. The radio host says he had his nose "shaved down a bit." Stern to Letterman: "You can look like this too."
And here's the corporate statement from CBS:
We did not stand in the way of Howard appearing on our own airwaves tonight. We believe his appearance was his desperate attempt to distract attention from the facts of the case. We hope, in subsequent coverage of that appearance, the media is not seduced or fooled in any way. Howard Stern has done something wrong and we intend to demonstrate this wrongful conduct in court.
The Jointblog just forwards the info as it surfaces. Letterman quipped after hearing Stern present his side of the story, “Wow, I just don’t want to be anywhere near where the mortar hits.” Expect a bumpy ride ahead...and wear flak jackets.
MediaWeek also has a report here
posted by Unknown @ Monday, March 13, 2006,
