New York City- Howard Stern Monday morning commented about the situation in Atlanta involving The Regular Guys, Larry Wachs and Eric Von Haessler. Wachs and Von Haessler, who used to broadcast on L.A.’s KLSX 97.1, were suspended Friday from their current gig on Atlanta’s 96rock when porn star Devinn Lane uttered some colorful language.
The incident occurred as Wachs and Von Haessler attempted to mock the current government campaign against indecency. They had planned a segment called “backward smut,” in which they would bring in porn star Lane, talk to her on tape, then play the tape backward on air. While taping the segment during a commercial, the mikes stayed live. Over the sound of a Honda truck ad, Lane could be heard describing sexual acts in graphic terms.
The Federal Communications Commission said it would investigate the incident only if it receives a complaint from a listener. But Stern referred to Wachs and Von Haessler as “two geeks being cute.” Stern was of the opinion that Clear Channel has no choice but to fire Wachs and Von Haessler.
“They let the mikes open,” Stern said. “And the language went out. Clear Channel has to fire them. They’re [Clear Channel] going to court with me because they’re not paying their bills to me. I’m going to bring that out in court. How come you didn’t fire them? Zero Tolerance. So now they’ve got to fire everybody. They didn’t fire Elliot in the Morning in D.C. He was fined.” Stern said there was also a Man Show broadcast involving Ryan Seacrest where the f-word was uttered twice.
“Can you please file that one to the FCC? Just write a complaint letter saying you were deeply offended by the Man Show. Clear Channel selectively fired me because a) I’m the top guy and b) I didn’t support Bush like they wanted me to.”
Stern said Clear Channel has no choice but to fire the Atlanta guys. “They got to. They’re suspended so far but they got to be fired. How are you going to explain Zero Tolerance? You told all your Republican buddies that you’re going to fire me.”