Artie Lange has been absent from the Howard Stern radio show since they returned from the Christmas break. All that’s been mentioned on the air was that Artie was in the hospital, but it’s being reported in the New York Post that it’s because of an attempted suicide:
Yeah, I can believe that. He’s not exactly a cheerful guy.
But wow, why the hell would you try to commit suicide by stabbing yourself? The success is going to be iffy at best, and the pain!
He… wait… he stabbed himself… nine times? How is that even possible?
I hope Artie can clean up his act and get back on the right track. He’s a funny guy and is a good addition to the Stern show when he isn’t using or nodding out.
I wonder now if we’ll ever see Artie return to the show.
Whaaaaaaaaaa!
Seriously though, I feel sorry for the guy. I don’t really like him on the show and he’s brought it down recently (last few months) by making a good bit of the show about him but it’s a personal tragedy for him and his family. He sure has a lot of demons.
Hopefully he can recover but I think it’s time for Howard to cut him loose.
I also think it strange that Stern isn’t talking about it. He talks about everyones elses major problems and dishes the dirt of all manner of celebs.
It’s not the first time he’s attempted suicide. What a downer.
The timing isn’t too surprising, actually. He missed the last two weeks before winter break, meaning he was out for pretty much all of December after the higher ups told him to take some time to get better.
I imagine after missing two weeks, then having two weeks of vacation, if he still didn’t feel ready to come back he might despair of ever returning, and then what’s the point?
I’m behind on my Stern listening, currently on Wednesday’s show before break. (Dec 16th.) Howard just read an email where the listener was going on and on about how he didn’t know what was different, but Howard was way better recently. Howard obliviously and offhandedly said something like “I don’t know what’s different, but thanks.” I can only imagine how Artie felt if he was listening that day; that had to hurt.
Attempted suicide by stabbing is friggin’ hardcore. As far as the culture of suicide goes, mad props to him. You don’t get much further from a charcoal grill in a shed than that.
Heh. You have to be a Stern fan to get that reference.
Artie seems to suffer from depression as well as have drug problems. Before the xmas break he was out for a few days and when he came back he said that he basically couldn’t bring himself to get out of bed. He was back for a few days and then gone again. Howard basically said that management had told him to take a break and sort himself out.
Depression can do horrible things to a person. The can come to hate themselves and think that they deserve pain. Poor Artie may have thought he deserved to go by stabbing.
What a horrible thing to experience and can you imagine what the poor Mother had to go through. Walking into your sons apartment to find that, Jesus, it doesn’t bare thinking about.
It was more than a couple days. The first instance (after his Detriot show) was almost two weeks, the second (going into Christmas break) was exactly two weeks.
You may be right that he was only back for a few days in between; I can’t remember exactly. I think it was more like a week and a half, but may have only been a half a week.
It could have been a week and a half. Can’t recall exactly.
I haven’t heard Stern since he went over to satellite. About 4-5 years ago though, when KC mysteriously disappeared from the show (gambling problem + depression if I remember right), Howard pretty much discouraged callers from bringing up questions and told everyone to leave him alone to deal w/ his problems.
Even Stern has enough class not to dog his own staff/crew when they’re already dealing w/ their own BIG problems.
Back to the topic… damn, hope Artie gets better.
No surprise. I’ve read his book.
He’s an active alcoholic and addict who refuses to take any useful steps to treat his chemical dependency. This is pretty much the standard path for addicts of his type who do not manage to get their disease into remission.
Maybe he’ll eventually hit a a low enough bottom to inspire him to make useful changes.
The trouble is, such low bottoms are often fatal.
I haven’t, but I read a brief article in Esquire(?) about him. It’s pretty much is spot on with your diagnosis.
I haven’t listened to Stern since he went to Sirius. But I am surprised that anyone would be shocked by anything Artie does or says. He’s a ticking time bomb and no one seems to be doing much of anything about it. Especially himself.
Hopefully, this is it.
The article I read this morning, I think I saw it on fark, said there were six hesitation wounds and three serious ones.
Now THAT makes sense to me. I know if I were going to stab myself to death it would take me a while to actually work up the guts.
I loathe Howard Stern and haven’t listened to his show since the mid-90s, as a result I know Artie by name only, but I sincerely wish him a full recovery from his wounds and from the conditions that led to them.
What a shame! I read his book, “Too Fat to Fish,” and found it to be brilliantly humorous and surprisingly, profoundly moving, as well.
Too Fat To Kill Yourself?
Reading that book is what made me conclude he’s an out-of-control addict with little to no insight into the need for taking responsibility for his getting well.
I know I’m late to the game here, but I was going to say, Artie Lang’s entire *lifestyle * is one big suicide attempt.