Koyen to Stern: Free Speech More Than More Curse Words on Air
This morning, Howard Stern got into a debate on air with New York Press editor, Jeff Koyen. The contretemps were over last year's 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers list, which included Stern as number 7 (way ahead of of this site's former editor, we should say).
It's a testament to the Bush-like bubble Stern operates in that it took almost a year for one of his interns to find the list and bring it to the radio host's attention, but we can understand his anger at The Press saying:
With his money and fan base, Stern could've taken on the criminals at the FCC a long time ago, but as always, the smut jock went ostrich, burying his face in a pair of fake tits while the Constitution got crumpled. Come to think of it, scratch the opening line. We hope Ashcroft locks him away for 10 to 20.
Stern was on Koyen from the moment he picked up the phone, but the Press editor actually held his own and got in some decent digs at Stern and former Mayor Giuliani. After a brief shouting match, Stern hung up on and wished that Koyen would drop dead.
After the jump, Koyen's response to his moment in the Stern Terrordome. (Warning: If you don't want the image of Howard Stern performing oral sex on two mayors in your mind, do not click through!)
"The whole thing started as a factchecking error. The story was originally about Joey Ramone, but the art dept swapped the photos.
"Har har.
"Stern can blow me. He could've walked away from his overlords and (the publicly held) Viacom and their multi-million dollar contracts and syndication deals. Instead, they paid the fines because it was more profitable to roll over like bitches.
"His move to Sirius was announced 6 months after his Loathsome award. It also came after our Best of Manhattan issue. Had that not been the case, we might've lauded him for finally taking a stand and moving to a non-regulated medium. He could've gone to a single independent radio station and then webcast from there, were his "show" so important to him. But no, it's about power and money and supposed influence.
"So much for that influence, though. He sucked Giuliani's cock, sucked Bloomberg's cock, sucked Bush's cock—and was then surprised that they sold him out. Who's nave? Me, the editor-in-chief of an independently owned free weekly newspaper struggling against distribution restrictions handed down from our very own mayor's office? Or a multimillionaire celebrity who was surprised that conservative politicians wouldn't fight for him? Where's his buddy Giuliani now? Having lunch in the White House. What's Bloomberg busy doing? Selling every inch of public space in this city—to Viacom, to Clear Channel. And Bush is too busy with Iraq, which Stern supported in full.
"Fighting for free speech is more than getting more curse words on the air, it's about sacrificing in the face of restriction. Stern has done nothing but capitalize on his battles—and made more money while more restrictions have come into place."
