Answer Addiction

Tag: Howard Stern

  • Artie Lange Expresses His Love For Howard Stern Post-Rehab

    Artie Lange Expresses His Love For Howard Stern Post-Rehab

    “He had no choice but to let me go. I was gonna die and he tried to get me help, he got me into rehab a couple of times and I would leave.”

    Comedian Artie Lange recently emerged from a lengthy rehab stint and he wants to apologize to Howard Stern for his past behavior, Page Six reports.

    Lange went on the YouTube show AftershockXL and explained, “I feel terrible. I’m going to call him one of these days.”

    Lange’s mishaps with drugs were often hilarious fodder for The Howard Stern Show, but Stern became rattled when Lange attempted suicide and backed away from commenting on Artie, even when the comedian trashed him publicly.

    Taking Responsibility For His Actions

    Now Lange says, “There should be no guilt on Howard’s part. Howard did nothing wrong. All Howard did was try to help me. I love him so much. It’s a shame that anyone in my life would feel any guilt. I f—ed up.”

    Lange knew he was putting Stern in a difficult position, and that Howard gave him an incredible gig that any comedian would kill for.

    “All he did was give me the best job ever and I take full responsibility,” the comedian explained to New Jersey 101.5. “He had no choice but to let me go. I was gonna die and he tried to get me help, he got me into rehab a couple of times and I would leave… he was in my crazy life, and I don’t think he knew what to do after a while. When a junkie is in your life and you care about them, they start to rip your heart out.”

    Stern Speaks

    Stern admitted to the New York Times magazine, “I choose my words about Artie carefully, because I love him. It wasn’t a clean break. It was many years of wanting Artie to get help. I know that a lot of fans want me to talk about Artie and feel it’s a cop-out for me not to. I’ll take that. I don’t want to do anything that would rock his boat. I get sad talking about Artie. He was a tremendous contributor. But we had to move on.”

    Earlier this month on Twitter, Lange announced his return from an extensive rehab stay, and he wrote, “Great to be home! 7 months 14 days but one day at a time. Lots of new stories to tell. Will announce some new tour dates on Friday. Thanks for the support. Love you all.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange Ready For Sobriety: "It’s Been Long Enough"

    Artie Lange Ready For Sobriety: "It’s Been Long Enough"

    “I’m about to take a big step to help myself, to save my life. I’m sure you will hear about it. I feel like I’m not done. I have another run of laughing with you all.”

    Comedian Artie Lange seems ready for a change.

    Now 51 years old, his health fading, Lange appears ready to commit to sobriety. And it begins with a treatment program.

    “I’m about to go into drug treatment and commit to a full rehab, in-patient,” he said in a recent interview on The Steve Trevelise Show. “I don’t know. I’m a very humble guy at this point. And I think I”m ready to go and do what I gotta do. It’s been long enough.”

    With Kevin Meara walking him through the process, Lange is ready to receive help. This time he’s hoping it will stick. Meara is the co-chair of City of Angels, a Groveville, New Jersey-based organization that provides interventions, recovery support, counseling services and more at no cost.

    Lange did not expect to live past 25, he said in a previous interview. He was 37 at the time fellow comedian Mitch Hedberg died at the same age of a drug overdose in 2005.

    “When I heard [Mitch] died, I had such guilt and said to myself, ‘God, if I was a better person I would have just said, you know what, the heck with the Stern show, forget Caroline’s.’ I should have grabbed him and said, let’s go to the hospital right now. Let’s get detoxed and get better right now,” Lange said on The Steve Trevelise Show.

    “But Mitch was the kind of guy who openly said—he was so far gone—[that] he goes, ‘Guys, don’t try to help me. I wanna do heroin ’til I die.’ And that’s a mindset that people get into because they’re so afraid of not being on it that you lose sense of reality. It just is so sad to think of that. And even that didn’t stop me.”

    When Trevelise asked if Lange can see himself getting to this point, he replied, “I hope not. I don’t think so. I don’t think I’m even close to there yet.”

    Lange, who said in a previous interview that his fading health is starting to worry him, does not want to end up like Hedberg or Greg Giraldo, another comedian who died of a drug overdose in 2010. He was 44 years old.

    “I get nervous now, because now I wanna live. Now I do care about it, and I think that maybe I’ve done too much damage,” Lange said to NJ Advance Media in July.

    The day after his recent interview on Nov. 5, Lange tweeted some uplifting words to his followers: “I’m about to take a big step to help myself, to save my life. I’m sure you will hear about it. I feel like I’m not done. I have another run of laughing with you all. I want to thank you fans the way you thank me. You have saved my life. You are special to me. Wish me luck.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Artie Lange: Howard Stern "Did Not Understand Addiction"

    Artie Lange: Howard Stern "Did Not Understand Addiction"

    The comedian opened up about addiction, alcoholism and his relationship with former boss Howard Stern on an episode of the Dopey Podcast.

    Artie Lange, best known for his gig as the “everyman” sidekick on The Howard Stern Show, recently opened up about how addiction destroyed his relationship with the legendary shock jock.

    Lange’s struggle with substance abuse has been lengthy and highly publicized. Over the years, the troubled comedian has routinely bottomed out while in the spotlight, ranging from canceled stand-up appearances to his suicide attempt in 2010.

    He’s also had his police mugshot taken a number of times during his career, including three arrests in 2017 alone. Still, perhaps the most infamous fallout from Lange’s demons remains his firing from Stern at the end of 2009—a blow that clearly casts a long shadow across Lange’s career. 

    Guesting on the Dopey Podcast, Lange revealed just how unmanageable his life had become in 2009 thanks to cocaine, heroin, pills and booze. Despite seeing the root of his problems, Lange’s behavior ended his otherwise wildly popular run on the radio show.

    Even worse than his addled on-air appearances, Lange suggested, was the uncomfortable position he had put Stern in.

    “Howard did not understand addiction. He gave me the best job ever and he is a genius,” he affirmed on the podcast. “I was on the show for over eight years, but towards the end I was a complete addict.”

    Lange likened his relationship with Stern to “a son-and-dad kind of thing,” which potentially made Stern’s decision to fire the comedian more complicated.

    Lange also disclosed that he was earning $4 million a year from The Howard Stern Show, in addition to a variety of other opportunities, such as a starring role in the 2006 comedy Beer League.  

    Shortly after being let go from Stern, Lange’s drug problems and depression worsened. In 2010, he attempted suicide. And while Lange eventually recovered from the incident, it’s obvious that he hasn’t entirely gotten over being fired from the highly-rated program.

    In recent months, Lange has even taken to blasting his former boss on social media, threatening to post Stern’s private phone number online. Interestingly, as Lange continues to escalate the feud, he doesn’t fault Stern when it comes to comprehending the true depths of his addiction.

    “He didn’t know the extent of it. There’s no way he could’ve,” he told Uproxx. Lange added that even though Stern couldn’t grasp just how far gone the comedian was, he tried to get Lange the help he so desperately needed.

    Stern even connected him with a therapist, put him into a treatment center, and encouraged him to take all the time he needed to find sobriety.

    During the podcast interview, though, Lange indicated that Stern’s efforts were as generous as they were futile. Lange was straightforward and serious about the reality of his addictions, admitting that he might soon relapse and never find long-term sobriety.

    View the original article at thefix.com