Artie Quits The Show. For real this time.

From Newsday.com -
By Adam Abramson

“Howard Stern Show fixture Artie Lange walked out of the studio after an argument and subsequent outburst at his personal assistant on the air.

Lange, who became a part of the show’s daily routine in October of 2001, was spotted disputing with his assistant in the hallways off the air. When it was brought up to Stern, he asked the assistant Teddy to come into the studio and discuss the situation on the air.

Lange began to express his disdain for his assistant of nearly two years because of recent money issues. Teddy retorted by implying there’s more to the job than meets the eye.

The two are slated to travel to Amsterdam this evening and the squabble began over setting up Lange’s travel accommodations. However, the in-studio dispute quickly escalated into a discussion about how much Lange finances Teddy, who is affectionately called “Teddy Microphone” around the studio.As the argument continued, Lange became enraged and physically lashed out at Teddy, but the physical confrontation was apparently defused by other members in the studio.

When Lange returned, he said Teddy would be “dead” had he reached him and he would be in jail.

Stern then expressed his feelings on the situation, saying he cannot condone Lange’s actions. The comedian, who has had a similar outburst on the air in the past, said he cannot guarantee he can refrain from acting out in the future. Upon hearing that, Stern said he cannot have Lange around with the potential of such actions looming.

Artie then offered his resignation; Stern accepted, but told Lange to leave and cool off. Just before Lange left he told Stern: “I’m not a good person … I gotta leave … I love you”

Teddy returned to the studio several minutes later and said there was overreacting from everyone, but did not downplay the seriousness of the situation.

Show producer Gary Dell’Abate came in to analyze the situation, but he and Stern admitted they “did not know what to make of it all.”

Stern does not host a live show on Fridays and the crew is on vacation next week.”

“Artie Lange” was the number one search term according to Google Trends since the incident occurred. “Stern Fan Network” has been number two all day. At the time of this article, they still are.

The show started off great today, lost of laughter, Artie in a good mood, a dance competition. Halfway through the show the laughter died. The entire crew was shell-shocked. The last time I heard them even close to this was 9/11.

MarksFriggin.com gave a rundown of the occurrence:

”

• Artie Attacks Teddy, Resigns From Show, Walks Out. 04/10/08. 8:00am
  After the break Howard came back and said that there are rumors that Ryan Seacrest might be replacing Regis Philbin. Howard said that would be awful. He said there has to be someone else out there that’s available to do that job.Howard heard that Artie was yelling at Teddy out in the hall. Artie said that they’re going on this trip today and Teddy needs his passport. He said that he needed to write down some information for this Amsterdam trip and the USO trip. He said that he handed him the Passport and sent off the information. He figured that he’d keep that information on him so he can use it when he needs it. Howard said that’s what he would do if he were his assistant. He’d make photocopies of it so he never had to ask him for it again.Artie said that Artie also keeps his credit card number so he can use that. He said that he keeps that on record but Teddy didn’t keep the passport info. Teddy came in and tried to defend himself. Artie said that he said he was going to book him into his flight today but he needed his passport info again.Artie ended up yelling at Teddy for not listening. He wanted to finish what he was saying and then he’d let him talk. Artie said he told teddy that he should have kept that passport information on him and he shouldn’t keep asking him for it. He said that Teddy shot back at him with a snotty comment and argued with him instead of just doing what he asked him to do.

  Artie said that Teddy was acting like a faggot around him and he thinks that he hired a fag. Artie said that he sent him out to Bloomingdale’s to buy him something and he came back and told him that he had gone to ”Bloomies” and that pissed him off too.

  Gary said that Teddy copied Artie’s passport and he left it in the copy machine. Someone else at the company found it and didn’t know where it came from. Gary said that Teddy is always shooting comments back at Artie and arguing with Artie so that pisses him off even more.

  Teddy said that he went online to see if he could check Artie into his flight today and found out that he could do it. He asked Artie for the passport and he went ballistic on him. Teddy said he’s got a lot of stuff going on at work and he forgets stuff once in a while.

  Howard said that when Artie first hired Teddy he hired him to just get him coffee and stuff. Now things are getting more complicated and he’s getting overwhelmed. Teddy said that he had to go after that. Howard told him not to go anywhere.

  Artie said that teddy has major money problems and he has to keep him employed. Artie said that he keeps threatening to quit but he can’t because he needs the money. He said that he’s loaned him thousands of dollars on top of his salary and he knows he’ll never see that back. He said that he’s always asking for a raise and stuff like that too.

  Artie asked Teddy when he’s going to get his $5,000 back that he loaned him. Howard told Teddy that if he was him he wouldn’t pay him back. He’s not going to do anything about it. Howard asked Teddy why he’s going to Amsterdam if he has all of these money problems. He said that he got a lot of frequent flyer miles so he used them for this trip.

  Artie said that he pays Teddy about $45,000 a year. Teddy said that he makes $24,000. Teddy wasn’t counting the two bonuses that he was getting. That’s pretty good for a part time assistant. Howard said that it sounds like he might be a little overwhelmed. Teddy said that he is doing a full time job in part time hours so that’s where the problem comes in. He said that Artie hates him and it seems like he wants him to quit.

  Artie said that he tells Teddy to go ahead and quit but he won’t. He keeps coming back. He said that he’s a deadbeat and he’s tired of that. He said that there’s someone else there that has borrowed $7,500 from him there at the company too and that person probably won’t pay him back.

  Teddy said that he can’t wait to see anyone else come in and try to do his job. Artie said that no one else would complain like Teddy does. He went off on Teddy about all of this stuff but Howard wanted to talk to him about what he was doing there.

  Artie got up and went after Teddy so they were all yelling at him to stop and for Teddy to get the hell out of there. Artie attacked Teddy and everyone was freaking out trying to put a stop to it. Robin asked what the hell was going on there. Howard said that Artie needs to go home and rest. He said that wasn’t cool with him.

  Robin said that he’s pissed at Teddy and he wondered why they were bringing this up. Howard said he was curious about what was going on and it seems that he’s a little out of control over the whole thing. He said he’s go to go work this out and he’s not sure what he’s going to do about it. He said that he just went berserk.

  Artie came back in and said that he knows that he’s in a fighting mood. Howard said that he doesn’t know that this is real. Artie said that he feels like Teddy is stealing his money. Howard told him he was out of control. He said he figured he must like Teddy on some level and had no idea that he was going to fight him. Artie said that it was Howard who brought that out in him.

  Artie said that he thinks that Howard prodded it out of him and that’s what he got out of him. Howard asked why he would hire a guy who he thinks was ripping him off. Artie said that he’s afraid to fire him because he’d have nothing if he did that. Howard said that this was worse than just letting him go.

  Artie blamed Howard for bringing this to where it went. He said that he kept pushing him and pushing him and that’s what happened. Howard said he didn’t know that Artie was going to go crazy and explode. Artie asked why he would bring him back to that type of situation like he and Sal had. Howard said that he really had no idea he was going to attack another human being. Howard said that wasn’t fair to Teddy and he can blame him for it if he wants but he’s not to blame.

  Howard said that he can’t have Artie around there if he’s not in control. Howard said that he didn’t want that from him and he really didn’t know he was going to be out of control. Artie said that he can’t do his job and he can’t guarantee him that he won’t do that again. Artie said that he’s an out of control person and he can’t do that anymore. He said he loves Howard but he has to resign. He said that he can’t guarantee that he won’t do that again.

  Howard accepted Artie’s resignation but he continued to talk to him about what had just gone down. Artie said that he would never bother Howard with this nonsense with Teddy. He said that he wouldn’t even bring it up on the air. He said that he’ll probably get sued now over that. Artie said that he’s not a good person and he really has to leave. He told Howard he loves him but he’s really got to leave.

  Howard told Artie to just go into the green room and they’ll talk later. He said that he wasn’t looking for that kind of fight. He said that he didn’t know it was going to escalate to that. He said that he likes airing dirty laundry but doesn’t want to push people to that.

  Howard said that he can’t have Artie in there if he’s going to put other people in danger. He said it was depressing. Benjy asked if he was still going to use his ticket to Amsterdam. Howard didn’t want him joking about that. He said this was really serious.

  Howard said he was speechless. Robin said that it wasn’t fun or funny. She said that it’s just not right when someone does something like that. Howard said that he thought that Artie had some kind of affection for Teddy but he seems to really dislike him today. He said that he had no clue that they were going to go that far.

  Howard thought that they were really bros and they got along with each other. He really did. Robin said that she believes that they might but Artie is the kind of guy where words run out and he has to act out physically. Howard said that he’s had people working for him that he doesn’t want working for him but he’s never threatened to attack or wanted to attack anyone. Robin said that was the only way he had to express his anger.

  Dominic Barbara called in and said that it probably wasn’t about Teddy at all. He said that it sounded like someone could have gotten killed when he heard it. Howard said that it did get out of hand and someone could have gotten killed. Robin said that it was the people that got between them that could have gotten hurt too. Dominic said that this is part of his illness and he really has to get some help. He said he’s really depressed after that. Howard said he was too. He said that he’s sure it was for Teddy and Artie too.

  Robin said that she knows that Artie is going to feel like crap after this and he’ll be beating himself up after this. She said that he’s going to be miserable. Benjy said that Artie might be in a suicidal mood and they may want to keep someone around him. Howard said that Teddy is supposed to be with Artie right now. That’s not going to work.

  Benjy was afraid that Artie was going to be in a rage where he might hurt himself. Howard suggested that maybe her mother go over and help him out.

  Ralph called in and said that he has to leave for the dentist in a few minutes. He said that he thinks that Benjy might be right and someone might want to keep an eye on Artie. He said that he’s put Teddy in a position that he shouldn’t be in and this is just crazy. He said that you want to cry for Artie.

  Howard said that they argue there all the time but they usually keep it under control. He said that he didn’t mean anything other than to find out what was going on with Artie and Teddy. Ralph said that he was just asking a couple of questions and the two of them got out of hand.

  Robin said that Artie is acting like a boss and Teddy is acting like his buddy with the comments he makes and that drives Artie nuts. Ralph said that Artie’s got all kinds of problems with his house down at the shore too so he’s got a lot on his plate right now. Howard let Ralph go after he said he was really bummed out.

  Howard took a call from a guy who said he can’t believe what just happened. He said that Artie seems to be turning into a real asshole. Howard said that he’s really a great guy and he’s not going to bad mouth him.

  Howard said that they are really in a weird position at this point. He took another call from a guy who said that he must have seen this coming and he’s doing his job really well. Howard said that he had no idea that it was going to come to this.

• Artie Attack Aftermath. 04/10/08. 8:30am
  Teddy came back in and said that he didn’t want to come in there earlier and he saw it coming. He said he had a dream that something like this was going to happen. He said that Artie doesn’t mean it and he’s really a good guy. He said that he’s not stealing a penny from the guy and this really sucks.Howard said he really thought that Teddy and Artie were good together and didn’t know that they had these problems. He said that he thought it was going to be kind of cool and they’d work things out. Howard said that if they were really unhappy that they’d just break things up. Teddy said that things are going to be very awkward there. He said that he never should have come in there. He said that he didn’t think that Artie should leave, he should have left. Howard said that’s not true.Teddy said that they’ve never fought before, they just argue a lot. Howard thought it was just a playful thing that they did. Teddy wanted to forget it all and just move on. He said that he can’t believe what happened. He said that he must really hate him and maybe this was for the best. He said he’s going to attempt to go back to work.Howard said that he’s sorry that this all happened. Teddy said he hopes that he and Artie can kiss and make up in Amsterdam. He said that they’ll see what happens today. He said that he’s not flying out with him and he won’t be in the same hotel. He said he’s hoping that this doesn’t keep him from going.

  Teddy said he feels responsible but Howard told him he’s really not. He said he doesn’t feel responsible either. He said he was kind of enjoying them working things out but then there were the accusations and it blew up out of control.

  Howard didn’t like Artie blaming him for making him do it either. He said that he and Gary have blown up at each other before but they’ve never gotten this out of control. Teddy said that he couldn’t believe that Artie was coming after him the way he did and he got scared when he saw that 17 people were holding him back.

  Howard told Teddy that he may want to be around Artie on this Amsterdam trip. He said that it might not be the best thing. He said that he’s not going to do anything with Artie and he’s not going to go after him for money or sue him or anything like that. Howard said it might be best for him to part ways from Artie.

  Howard said he had no clue why this happened. Teddy said that Artie didn’t hit him but he did throw a cup of water at him.

  Gary came in and said that he’s not sure what they should do about this. He said that they managed to talk Artie down in the green room but he was afraid while he was talking to him. He said that they don’t know how he’s going to react to other people who might say the wrong thing to him. He said that he feels weird about Artie blaming it on them for what he does.

  Gary said that Artie has just gotten rid of a bunch of things that he’s tired of. He basically quit his job, fired teddy and said that he wasn’t going to Amsterdam. He said that he’s not sure what they’re going to do next. He asked Howard what he’s going to do if Artie calls him tonight. Howard said that he’s not sure what to do now. He said he’s still speechless and he’s not sure what to make of it.

  Howard said that it might be up to Tim to make that final decision. Teddy said he doesn’t want Artie to leave the show and he hopes that he never gets mad at anyone that much again. He said that if it’s because of him he’d be happy to lave the show. He said he feels really bad about this and hopes that Artie won’t hate him when he sees him again. Howard told Teddy that he handled it well.

  Gary said that Jason Reitman had walked in when Artie was leaving and got all freaked out when Artie just stormed by him.

  Howard took a call from a guy who said that maybe this is the way the day is going to go. He said that it sounds like Benjy is really worried about him and he hopes that they can get him some help. The guy said that one of them might want to go keep an eye on Artie to make sure he’s okay. Howard said that he would love to help the guy out because he really does adore the guy. He said that he’d like to have someone follow him and keep and eye on him.”

The replay of today’s show was canceled. Howard said he needed to analyze the situation. Mark’s Friggin also updated readers on the status of the replay:

- The Missing Artie Replay –

• Updates About Today’s Missing Replay.
  • UPDATE 1: For those of you tuning in to hear today’s replay on Howard 100… well, they’re playing the wrong friggin day. As of about 12:15 they’re replaying the April 7th show. They have this awesome show to replay and they play Monday’s show? Nice. I don’t know if this is a screw up or if Howard decided not to replay the show in which Artie seems to self destruct.
  • UPDATE 2: I heard from one fan who says that SIRIUS customer support is telling people that ”The programmers” have decided not to replay that show. It would appear that it’s intentional and not just a screw up. This show may never air again. How friggin lame.
  • UPDATE 3: Now I’m getting reports that Bubba the Love Sponge announced that it was Howard’s decision to pull the show and not run the replay. The show will not be replayed today or this weekend.
  • UPDATE 4: On tonight’s Superfan Roundtable Steve Langford reported that Artie and Teddy did board their flight to Amsterdam. Artie is in 1st class, Teddy in Economy. Steve said that he was told that they did lock eyes for a moment but didn’t exchange any words.

Howard 100 News updated fans on what happened after Artie left, even though only to a small extent.

Link to H100 News Report