
[Warning: Adult language used in this post]
This 41-year-old, father of one, will not be watching NBC’s America’s Got Talent this season due to the hiring of new host, Howard Stern. This is a show I have watched along with my family every year since the first. Bottom line, Howard Stern adds nothing of value to the show, is a black eye for the program, and actually puts the family show at jeopardy. The first question that comes to mind – will they now be bleeping out the host of this show as FOX regularly does for their hosts on the “family friendly” American Idol show?
There is not enough bandwidth here on this site to list all the controversial things Stern has said over the years. Here is just a brief sampling. He really is a funny guy.
About the gunmen at the school massacre in Columbine:
‘Did those kids try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls?…If you’re going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn’t you have some sex?'”
About best actress Academy Awards nominee Gabourey Sidibe.
“[She is] the most enormous, fat black chick I’ve ever seen.”
About the recent scandal on American Soldiers Urinating on Dead Taliban Fighters:
“He’s shooting bullets into you, you’re shooting back, couple of your bodies died, you get done with an intense battle, you’re alive, you get out of it without a scratch, you’re f***ing crazed, you’re scared out of your mind, but you defended your country. You take out your c*ck and you piss on the enemy. You know what? So what. That’s war.”
On the 1st Amendment and the Republican Debates:
“The amazing thing to me–I’m watching these debates, the Republican debates–this Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, they are the two worst people on the planet. They get up wherever they can and they still feel comfortable getting up in front of an audience in 2012 and f***ing saying s**t about gays.”
About Ted Nugent, who has made controversial statements about President Obama:
I love that guy. He’s nuts…He’s one of those guys who kills deer, so he thinks he’s like, a tough guy…During the Vietnam War, he admits that he peed his own pants and s**t his pants for a week and went down there and got out of the draft. If he’s so tough, why don’t you go in the f***ing military…He talks about fighting for his freedoms. Who is he fighting,…deer? I mean who is he fighting? As far as I know he’s fighting deer…Why doesn’t he sign up for Afghanistan?…He should be playing Cat Scratch Fever at some fair, which is probably what frustrates him most…Just a big p**sy with a f***ing gun.
On former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino:
“Hey Fantasia, you’re not getting little boys hard. Nobody’s beating off to you. Little boys want boners. They want a Britney Spears or a Rihanna.”
Do we need to re-read the Columbine comments again:
‘Did those kids try to have sex with any of the good-looking girls?…If you’re going to kill yourself and kill all the kids, why wouldn’t you have some sex?'”
Howard Stern is a “comedian” and a radio host. He has been very successful in his career, because there is a large enough audience that supports his type of humor and overall presentation. I don’t agree with it, but everyone has a right to their opinion and personal preferences.
A family-friendly show should have family-friendly hosts. Not hosts that you never know from one minute to the next what they might say and what they might have to bleep out.
How many excellent and talented celebrities are out there that would have fit the bill? There are plenty, but instead NBC chose Stern, who now gets a tremendous amount of free exposure to reach a new audience.
If you disagree with the decision to hire Howard Stern and you wish to send a message to NBC and the sponsors of America’s Got Talent, then click here and support the Parents’ Television Council.