Howard Stern addresses 1993 blackface skit that uses N-word
Howard Stern is breaking his silence after a 1993 sketch showing the radio shock jock repeatedly using the N-word in blackface has resurfaced online.
The footage was unearthed on Twitter by filmmaker Tariq Nasheed, who combined Stern’s controversial comedy sketch with video of the longtime radio host claiming he has never used the racial slur during a 2019 appearance on “The View.” “I didn’t use the N-word, let’s be very clear,” Stern said to co-host Sunny Hostin, who challenged his use of offensive language on his show.
However, in a sketch from his 1993 pay-per-view New Year’s Eve special, Stern said the racial slur repeatedly in blackface while parodying Ted Danson’s infamously divisive Friar’s Club Roast of Whoopi Goldberg earlier that year.
On his Siriusxm show Monday, Stern explained that he doesn’t regret “lampooning” Danson, but the radio host said he now would have done it differently.
“If I had to do it all over again, would I lampoon Ted Danson, a white guy in blackface? Yeah, I was lampooning him and saying, I’m going to shine a light on this,” Stern said. “But would I go about it the same way now? Probably not. Not probably, I wouldn’t.”
Stern said he has “evolved and changed” with the help of a therapist since the comedy special, adding that he doesn’t view his old work.
“The (stuff ) I did was (expletive) crazy,” Stern said. “I’ll be the first to admit. I won’t go back and watch those old shows; it’s like, who is that guy?”