January 10, 2011

Howard Stern excoriates Kathy Lee Gifford for tormenting an autistic boy.

Kathy Lee somehow managed to produce the most unbearably tasteless display I've ever seen on television, and Stern lets her have it. Language alert on the second link, but the first link is much more offensive.

[Second link was wrong before. Fixed.]

44 comments:

Dan from Madison said...

That might be the wrong Stern link, it is from 1995.

David said...

I refuse to look at anything involving Kathy Lee Gifford, even if it makes her look bad.

Hey, I turn off Monday Night Football when Frank Gifford comes on.

Ann Althouse said...

"That might be the wrong Stern link, it is from 1995."

If that happened in 1995, I missed it. But that is the thing I mean to point to.

Triangle Man said...

Here is the correct link to the Howard Stern audio. The other one has Howard doing his impression of Satan having sex with Kathy Lee.

The video is painful.

sonicfrog said...

Uhm.... Heeelllooooooo!!! This blatant insensitivity is not in any way unique to Gifford. This is what most ALL morning "news" programs are.

I don't watch them because this one incident pretty much reflects the quality of the programming. I mean, haven't you ever wondered why any one of the major morning reporters must feel the need to ask of a family who is dealing with a missing or murdered child "How did you feel when you found out your child was kidnapped / murdered?".

What a STUPID question! But this is typical in the news industry... To capture the human emotion!

But keep an eye out, because if you never noticed these type of inane / insensitive questions and interviews before, before, now you will.

Anonymous said...

The only thing I got out of this was to learn that Kate Baldwin is cute--for a soulless ginger.

Peter Hoh said...

Did Kathy Lee suffer a car accident, or did she pay someone to do that to her face?

traditionalguy said...

But Kathy Lee is a Star. A real Star. She is famous and everyone loves her. That is why she has a show. Everybody needs to assume the position so that The Star can shine. The world goes on as before.

Harsh Pencil said...

Must see this:
http://www.theonion.com/video/special-boy-with-freakishly-large-brain-wins-spell,14334/

X said...

I can name that tune in one note.

X said...

you meant to link to a 1995 Stern rant that rips Kathy Lee for what she will do in 2011?

or this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2RnFAfoLzE&feature=related

Opus One Media said...

"unbearably tasteless ever"....

your tv doesn't get jersey shore i take it

X said...

Althouse digs in. Goes full-metal linknut.

Meade said...

Wow. Trey Parker and Matt Stone could not have scripted it better.

Wince said...

What's worse than sitting alone at a school lunch table?

Being on national television surrounded by a bunch of self-satisfied assholes talking around you like you're a freak.

l'd like you to meet...

Mohammet...

Jugdish, Sidney and Clayton.

Grab a seat and make yourselves at home.

Don't be shy about helping yourselves to punch and cookies.

SteveR said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ricpic said...

Did Kathy Lee suffer a car accident, or did she pay someone to do that to her face?

It's called aging.

Ann Althouse said...

"Here is the correct link to the Howard Stern audio. The other one has Howard doing his impression of Satan having sex with Kathy Lee."

Oh! Sorry. You are right. Fixed.

Ann Althouse said...

"Althouse digs in. Goes full-metal linknut."

LOL.

Again... sorry. I'm so sorry.

How many times to I have to tell you... I'm sorry.

Meade said...

Keep going. We'll tell you when you get there.

Bartender Cabbie said...

The only thing good about Kathy Lee is her ass and that looks to be sagging a bit.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I agree with Stern. 100%
Kathy Lee is Tone Deaf.

William said...

Just like every celeb who visits Haiti, although the only one who took flak for it was Sarah Palin....In high school I had an operation to repair an anal fistula. The rehab required that I use a colostomy bag for a few months. I did not always fasten it properly and as a result none of the other kids wanted to sit with me or, for that matter, even let me in the school lunch room. I was always grateful for the captain of the h.s. cheerleading squad who took the time to sit with me and cheer me up. It's small acts of kindness and mercy such as this that make life endurable.

Sprezzatura said...

Is it wrong to note that one of the moms is sorta hot, for a gal in the golden years?

Lisa said...

She should be ashamed. So should the mother who wrote the letter.

She basically said that boy was such a loser that for her golden child to befriend him must be a good deed, not a real friendship.

Kensington said...

"It's called aging."
Ugh! Ladies, why do you do that?

DaLawGiver said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deb said...

Absolute worst moment: when they asked Graham if he liked the song and when he said "it was a little too sad" the entire bunch laughed. Holy Cow. How terrible.

What a self indulgent creep KLG is.

DaveW said...

OK I listened to Stern, so I understand the objection, but I have to tell you it looks just like all those shows do to me. I can't stand to be in the same room with a TV playing one of these shows. They show up to me as little more than Jerry Springer with lipstick.

When I was playing the clip the first time I couldn't stand that "song". Good grief, why does anyone think that sounds good? Or do they? Pee-yew.

mythusmage said...

Gifford demonstrates the essential difference between autism and being a clueless prick.

Anonymous said...

She should be ashamed. So should the mother who wrote the letter.
She basically said that boy was such a loser that for her golden child to befriend him must be a good deed, not a real friendship.


It's the autistic boy's mother who really should be ashamed. She was right there next to her son and almost certainly knew about the song in advance.

Peter

Peter Hoh said...

"It's called aging."

I'd wager a lot that the problems with Kathy Lee's face have to do with botox or plastic surgery or other enhancements. I haven't seen her in several years, and the difference between her old face and this face is pronounced. Age alone doesn't do this kind of damage.


As for the moms -- yeah, I'll blame both of them for confusing what they would like (a trip to NY, the media spotlight) with what their boys would like. Both boys looked miserable.

Anonymous said...

After making the child cry they present the jock with a big gift basket and pointedly tell the autistic kid - NO, this is for Zach. Although they do give them each a ticket to a game. Would it have killed them to have second basket for the autistic child. So after the brutal song you get a second smack-down when someone is given a present for doing the inconceivable and befriending you.

Sprezzatura said...

Playing devil's advocate:

We should keep in mind that we don't want to start down the road where every loser is treated like a winner.

Remember that cons are opposed to the lib thinking where we avoid distinguishing winners and losers.

Stern, has (if his movie is at all true) experienced being a loser, but he wasn't happy about--which is good. We want to make sure it's not too fun to be a loser, so folks are motivated to change their circumstances.

That said, no human (except for Muslim terrorists) should be victimized by the creature commonly known as Kathy Lee.

Anonymous said...

Not that anyone cares, but it's spelled Kathie Lee Gifford.

Word verification: sianc.

Revenant said...

I couldn't even make it to the offensive part. The schmaltz of the opening song caused my brain to cry out in terror and lapse into a coma.

jamboree said...

I'm not going to watch - just as I avoid the HS show. I'm glad he has some soul somewhere, but really, Howard Stern made his millions tormenting people for fun and profit. He's the the last person on earth that can judge this.

knox said...

There really is nothing worse than morning TV. At least "Jersey Shore," "Jerry Springer" and the like haev a sense of humor about ithemselves.

After making the child cry they present the jock with a big gift basket and pointedly tell the autistic kid - NO, this is for Zach.

I know! WTF.

Both moms need to be horsewhipped.

knox said...

Oddly, not long ago Entertainment Weekly wrote a glowing review of the repulsive "Kathie Lee and Hoda" hour. Not sure what they were thinking...

Deb said...

Knox, it's doubtful that they were thinking. I think you can assume that of any TV show with the word "entertainment" in the name.

and yeah, i caught that the autistic child did not receive a gift, just when I thought the horror was almost over. The very definition of tasteless. Who produces these disasters?

Methadras said...

This is classic stern. Love it. LOVE IT!!!

Methadras said...

Revenant said...

I couldn't even make it to the offensive part. The schmaltz of the opening song caused my brain to cry out in terror and lapse into a coma.


The song fucking killed me. It was pretentious and stupid and it was Kathy Lee that wrote it and it all made sense. The lyrical equivalent of a speak n' spell.

Lawyer Mom said...

It's not often such a gross manifestation of narcissism is caught on tape.

John Bragg said...

For me, the worst part of the video is around 4:30. The co-host says to the autistic boy, I see you throwing around the baseball, are you enjoying sports in school?

"No, I'm just the manager" The hens laugh, and one feeds him the line that he's in charge of the team.

So,
1. The hens screwed up their research or their cue cards, and
2. Tell him a transparent lie (apparently they confused autistic with mentally retarded) and finally,
4. LAUGH at him.

Nice.