GOD SAVE ARTIE LANGE: Howard Stern Sidekick Survives Nine Self-Inflicted Knife Wounds

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NEW YORK POST: Troubled comic Artie Lange landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, sources told The Post. Lange’s frantic mom called 911 Saturday morning after she entered his Hoboken apartment and found the bloodied funnyman, a law-enforcement source said. Lange sustained six “hesitation wounds” and three deep plunges. A source close to Lange’s management team confirmed that the Howard Stern sidekick stabbed himself, adding that his mother had come to visit him that day to drop off food. Surgeons managed to save Lange despite heavy bleeding. MORE

WIKIPEDIA: Since Lange joined the show, Stern has often teased him for his eating habits, gambling, drinking, drug use, and sleeping at work. Stern also makes a point to praise Lange’s comedic talents; Lange had grown up listening to the show, and was a fan to the point of being able to recall obscure details from years ago on a regular basis. Stern and his staff have commented that Lange’s life is a sort of perpetual adolescence; his mother delivers food parcels and cleans his apartment, he continually gorges himself on pizza, pancakes and other fattening foods, and his drunken binges are legendary among Stern fans. In early June 2005, Lange missed four days of shows, prompting concerns of a possible relapse of past substance abuse.[26][27] The situation climaxed in Lange behaving strangely and belligerently on the air.[28] On July 27, he infamously sneered at Stern and the staff, “Artie’s gotta do what Artie’s gotta do!”[29][30] Lange then missed the next two days, writing his absence as stress from doing the radio show and filming his comedy film Artie Lange’s Beer League.[31] The truth for his absence was revealed in a spontaneous revelation on September 21, 2006, in which Lange acknowledged that he art-lange.jpghad regularly snorted heroin.[32] He discussed past episodes of heroin use, beginning when he was a stand-up comedian and continuing until Beer League was set to begin shooting.[28] He then detailed his painful withdrawal of the drug, which included side effects of aching, cold sweats, shaking and vomiting. Lange recalled taking his telephone off the hook to avoid speaking to his mother, who ultimately intervened to help him recover.[32] Lange was threatened with legal action by producers of Beer League if he failed to show up for the first day of shooting, which led him to secure a home visit from a doctor who prescribed Subutex to alleviate his dependency.[28] Since starting the medicine, Lange has relapsed at least once.[citation needed]

In the days leading up to Stern’s departure from terrestrial radio in December 2005, Lange revealed that he and show producer Gary Dell’Abate were approached by Infinity Broadcasting about replacing Stern with a show of their own. He claimed he was offered roughly $5 million to defect, but he and Dell’Abate claimed to have never given the offer much thought. On April 10, 2008, Lange walked off the show after an on-air argument and subsequent outburst at his personal assistant, Teddy (during which, he mentioned that Teddy embarrassed him by referring to Bloomingdale’s as “Bloomie’s”) resulting in a physical altercation.[33] Lange expressed his disdain for his assistant of nearly two years because of recent money issues. Later in the broadcast, Lange returned to apologize, and tender his resignation, which Stern accepted. On April 21, 2008, Lange did return to the Howard Stern Show, following a scheduled one-week vacation hiatus for the cast members. He apologized for his behavior and took full responsibility. It was revealed that Sirius was allowing him to continue, but that another infraction would end his employment. Additionally, Lange explained that despite their on-air confrontation, he and Teddy will maintain their working relationship. As of December 2008, Teddy continues to work as road manager for Artie’s out-of-town comedy appearances. Artie has been on indefinite leave from the Howard Stern Show since December 12, 2009. No reason was given for his departure. [34] MORE

MUST HEAR RADIO: God Save Artie Lange, Please

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