Joe Gumm, morning anchor for KOKH-TV Channel 25, learned that the hard way when he recently reported on a story about a lawsuit that radio personality Howard Stern had filed against his employer, Sirius XM radio.
Gumm made an impromptu remark that Stern is ugly, a crack that didn’t sit well with the legendary shock jock. Stern skewered Gumm on his satellite radio show, while his legion of fans bombarded the square-jawed anchor with angry emails and tweets.
Gumm cried uncle last week. “I always teach my kids don’t ever say anything weird, negative, do onto others as you would like to be done to you,” he said in an on-air apology. “I never thought that Howard Stern would notice anything I ever said, and I shouldn’t have done it. I sincerely apologize to … the entire Howard Stern Show and to all the masses out there sending me tweets and emails. I’m embarrassed because, as an example to my kids, I should’ve known better.”
Stern accepted the apology.
Sorta.
He
told listeners he wasn’t offended by Gumm’s assessment of his looks,
but rather how TV news had covered his lawsuit, which has since been
tossed out of court.
“It
bothers me that they don’t understand that they’re being fucked over,
too, in this business,” said Stern. “Joe, just wait till you make a
personal services contract and then you don’t get paid on it the way you
think you should. Joe, I’m not offended by you calling me ‘ugly.’ I’ve
got a thicker skin than that – not much. Whenever news guys do
off-the-cuff commentary, they’re complete idiots.”
