Howard Stern has engaged in a lot of feuds over the course of his career, having pissed off a wide variety of celebrities ranging from Adam Sandler to Jon Bon Jovi. However, there is one particular cultural icon whom Stern considers to be one of his biggest regrets because of the way he behaved with him during their interview.
In an extensive profile piece conducted by The Hollywood Reporter, the radio show host spoke about a lot of things that were extremely personal to him. After experiencing a cancer scare, Stern was forced to ask questions about his existence which led him to reflect on many events that had marked his journey.
Stern has spoken about the high points in his career as well as the lows, claiming that the best interview he had ever conducted was with talk show host Conan O’Brien. While that was a pleasant memory for the shock DJ, there were many other moments in his career that fill him up with regrets when he looks back on them.
He revealed in his book: “[Conan O’Brien] is possibly the best interview I’ve ever done. We’d had Conan on years before, and again, same old story – I just clowned around. We harassed him with a ventriloquist dummy, something juvenile like that. . . I thanked God Conan was willing to come in and let me have a real conversation as opposed to me being an attacking maniac.”
One of the incidents that Stern regrets the most is his interview with beloved comedy icon Robin Williams in the ’90s. Stern rudely asked Williams about his personal relationship and called Williams out on what he considered to be outrageous because he knew that it would attract the attention of his audience.
Stern recalled: “I loved Robin Williams, but there I am beating him over the head with, like, ‘Hey, I hear you’re f***ing your nanny?’ I could have had a great conversation, but I’m playing to the audience. They want to hear outrageousness, and that’s my arrogance thinking that Robin Williams can’t entertain my audience. How stupid am I?”
According to the reports at the time, Williams had been having an affair with his son Zachary’s nanny – Marsha Garces. However, other sources claimed that the comedian only got involved with Garces following his separation from his first wife Valerie Velardi. The two got married soon after Williams’ divorce.
In addition to being his son’s nanny, Garces also worked as a personal assistant for Williams on several films such as Good Morning, Vietnam. Later on, she acted as the producer for multiple projects involving Robin Williams and the two went on to start a film production company called Blue Wolf Productions in 1991.
Reflecting on the initial trajectory of his career, Stern claimed that he was happy with the evolution he has undergone because many of his past antics seem unbearable to him now. “I loved it because, to me, it was not a big deal,” Stern explained. “But now I find it gross. And I’d feel really fucking shitty if I hadn’t evolved. I’d be completely out of step with the times.”
