On April 7, while discussing the Disney-Miramax movie “Priest,” shock jock Howard Stem said that he couldn’t wait to make a movie of his own about priests. Speaking of priests as moral degenerates, Stern’s remarks were characteristically obscene and designed to insult.
Catholic League president William A. Donohue made the following statement in response to Stem’s remarks:
“The station manager at WXRX-FM has said that yesterday’s so-called apology by Howard Stern to Latinos wasn’t meant as an apology, but rather as a clarification. That is why the Catholic League is not asking for an apology for Stern’s latest outburst. If we demanded an apology, I suppose someone would write one for him, but it really wouldn’t matter as no one would take him seriously anyway.
“Ribald humor is part of the stock and trade of morning talk radio, and there’s nothing wrong with that, just so long as elementary standards of decency aren’t jettisoned altogether. For example, Lionel, whose show competes with Stern’s on WABC, is occasionally brash but he is never vulgar. Maybe that’s because Lionel is bright and Stem is dumb. Whatever the reason, Stern should listen to Lionel once in a while to find out what real talent sounds like.”
The Catholic League is the nation’s largest Catholic civil rights organization. It defends the right of Catholics-lay and clergy alike-to participate in American life without defamation or discrimination.
