On June 30, porn star Rebecca Lord, Howard Stern and Robin Quivers (Stern’s sidekick) slandered Catholic priests on the “Howard Stern Show” on E! Entertainment television.
On July 2, Catholic League president William Donohue wrote a letter to Jeffrey C. Bible, the CEO of Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (Philip Morris owns Miller), requesting that Miller drop its sponsorship of the show; Miller is the most prominent sponsor of the program. Philip Morris directed the issue to Miller Brewing and on July 13, Michael Hennick, marketing communications director for Miller, told the Catholic League that the decision to sponsor the show is based on what “our consumers are telling us they want to see and hear.” While he regrets that the program offended people, he also said that the Miller Brewing Company was standing by the “Howard Stern Show.”
William Donohue announced today the Catholic League’s response:
“I am writing to all the nation’s bishops telling them what Stern and Quivers said about priests. It is nothing if not slanderous to wildly charge Catholic priests with child sexual molestation. I will also make copies of the tape available to those who are interested. But most of all, I will tell the bishops, and our members across the nation, about the corporate arrogance and irresponsibility of Miller Brewing.
“In my letter to Mr. Bible, I told him how Unilever, which owns Lipton, had recently acted responsibly by withdrawing an ad that offended Catholics. I was hoping that Miller would also act responsibly and drop its support for the ‘Howard Stern Show.’ But instead they have decided they’d rather stick it to Catholics.
“Howard Stern is no Mel Brooks. His assault on Catholic priests is mean-spirited, vicious and humorless. That Miller Brewing would stand by this attack is reprehensible.”
