Howard Stern’s Five Most Outrageous Offenses

Shock jock begins stint as judge on “America’s Got Talent” tonight

intro: Tonight, Howard Stern appears in a place many people thought they’d never see him: National primetime broadcast television.

The legendary shock jock begins his reign as a judge of “America’s Got Talent” this evening, and already, critics are up in arms. The Parents Television Council, the watchdog group that bemoans any suggestion of sex or profanity on TV, sent a letter to 91 companies that have bought commerical time during the NBC competition in the past, advising them to spend their money elsewhere because of Stern’s “reputation for sleaze and misogyny.”

The PTC said in the letter, “[T]o our knowledge his only previous judging experience consisted of looking at insecure, naked young women and telling them whether or not they were hot enough to pose for Playboy.”

For Stern, that’s G-rated behavior. Let’s look back on some of his most outrageous antics:

quicklist: 1title: The Fartman Stunttext: Rectal humor is kind of a speciality of Stern’s, so in hindsight, it’s not really a surprise that he exposed his butt cheeks in a $10,000, gold Spandex superhero costume at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. But at the time, it was pretty controversial, not to mention gross. Stern descended from the ceiling as Fartman and simulated a gigantic release of gas that triggered an on-stage explosion. MTV was appalled, and Stern hasn’t been invited back to the awards since. He initially had visions of turning Fartman into a movie, but those never panned out. media:

quicklist: 2title: The Aunt Jemima Joketext: Stern denigrated the pancake icon in 1992 when he said on his radio show, “The closest I came to making love to a black woman was I masturbated to a picture of Aunt Jemima on a pancake box.” The FCC fined Stern and Infinity Broadcasting $600,000 for that quip. media:

quicklist: 3title: The Selena Scandaltext: In March 1995, while Selena’s fans reeled from the shooting death of the Latin singer, Stern made fun of them. The day before her funeral, he played gunshots over Selena’s music and mocked Selena’s fans with a fake Hispanic accent. He also said, “Spanish people have the worst taste in music. … This music does absolutely nothing for me. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul.” He infuriated Hispanic communities across the country, and a disorderly conduct arrest warrant was issued in his name in Harlingen, Tex. The following week, Stern apologized on air in Spanish, saying his comments were made in satire and not intended to hurt Selena’s fans, family, and friends. media: