In a shocking revelation, a distasteful skit featuring radio personality Howard Stern in blackface and uttering racial slurs has resurfaced, just as Stern is set to interview Vice President Kamala Harris.
The offensive footage, from a 1993 New Year's Eve pay-per-view special, shows Stern donning dark makeup and exaggerated white lips, while delivering a string of racially charged jokes.
According to The New York Post, the sketch was intended to satirize actor Ted Danson's controversial blackface performance at the Friar's Club roast of his then-girlfriend Whoopi Goldberg earlier that year. In a brief clip shared by Donald Trump Jr., Stern is heard using the n-word five times. Trump Jr., whose father has been a frequent guest on Stern's show and attended his 2008 wedding, expressed his shock at the video.
Stern has previously addressed the controversy surrounding the sketch. In a June 2020 episode of his SiriusXM radio show, following public outrage over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, Stern admitted, The st I did was fing crazy, Ill be the first to admit. I wont go back and watch those old shows; its like, who is that guy? He further added, But that was my shtick, thats what I did and I own it. I dont think I got embraced by Nazi groups and hate groups. They seemed to think I was against them too. Everybody had a bone to pick with me.
Stern acknowledged that the sketch was a parody of "Ted Danson, a white guy in blackface," but conceded that he "probably" would not repeat such an offensive act today. Yeah, I was lampooning him and saying, Im going to shine a light on this,' he said. But would I go about it the same way now? Probably not. Not probably, I wouldnt.
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