I know Howard Stern has done or said a few things that aren’t totally horrible. In my life, I’ve agreed with some comments he’s made and when he likes someone, sometimes it can lead to a good interview. But that is as far I will go by way of praise for him. Granted, I am not a shock jock’s target audience but I won’t be defending Howard in the way he treated Carnie Wilson when she appeared on his show eight years ago. According to Carnie, nine weeks after she’s undergone gastric bypass surgery, Howard secretly weighed before her segment and then fat-shamed her on air.
Speaking out. Carnie Wilson spoke candidly about an upsetting experience she encountered on The Howard Stern Show during her Tuesday, November 8, appearance on The Talk.
She recalled: “When I walked in, the producer Gary said, ‘Step over here and wait for Howard.’ Well, I didn’t know this, but I was stepping on a scale. And I looked up and in red, big numbers, 233 lbs. showed up on this thing. I said, ‘Wait a minute?’ and I looked down and all I could think was ‘Howard, ready to shame me?’ They purposely did it.”
Wilson said that Stern, 63, made embarrassing comments about her weight and even questioned Rob Bonfiglio – who she was engaged to at the time – about being with someone her size.
“He went nuts, just because he loves to fat-shame, he does. You know the way Howard is, always glamouring up all these thin women. But this is what happened, I always get Howard by the cajones. I said, ‘You know what, you’re really a piece of …’ I gave it back to him. I said, ‘This man really loves me,” she added.
“And [Stern] said, ‘You know what, I adore you,’ because it’s all a joke to him. But it wasn’t to me.”
Regardless of the banter, both ended the interview saying that they loved one another.
To clarify, this is when Howard was on E! so his shows – and this secret weighing “joke” were shown on air. In the video of Carnie’s segment, you can see Sharon Osbourne shake her head as Carnie begins her story about being told where to stand. I read that as Sharon knowing exactly what had happened before Carnie said it aloud. You could almost her Sharon thinking, “oh that Howard.” No, that’s a d!ck move deserving of more than a head-shake.
As for the fat shaming comments, the first part of the interview is not as bad as it sounds. Most of Carnie’s gastric bypass surgery was performed live on the internet to shine the light on the health issues connected to morbid obesity. On Stern, she’d hoped to discuss the benefits of getting the surgery in addition to the whole process and recovery. But at one point, the interview turns; it turns quick and it turns ugly. Basically, Howard says that people at a certain weight cannot be attractive and that Carnie’s then-boyfriend, Rob, could not actually like her, so he must only be with her for her money and fame. But, like Carnie inferred, Howard is vicious in his questioning. At one point, he was talking about a woman who was, in his estimation, 25 pounds overweight, whom he had the opportunity to sleep with prior to his marriage. Carnie asked if she was beautiful and Howard’s response was, “who could tell? She was heavy.” You can listen to the audio here if you want to but honestly, it ruined my day. And Carnie sweetly saying, “I love you, Howard,” upset me. I understand she was trying to show him he hadn’t gotten to her but he was being so rude and mean.
Photo credit: WENN Photos
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