Radio shock jock Howard Stern said that “black players won’t come over and say hello to me” when he’s sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden for Knicks games.
Stern said that the players prefer to “go over to Spike Lee” and other black celebrities that he sits next to, including Chris Rock and Tracy Morgan.
“The Knicks have been very kind to me. They put me right in the front row,” Stern said during Monday’s broadcast of his SiriusXM program “The Howard Stern Show.”
“That’s when I knew I was famous,” Stern said of having a front-row seat at the Garden, where a ticket can cost as much as $7,000.
“When I, you know, I have courtside, they put me courtside and the black players won’t come over and say hello to me, but they go over to Spike Lee,”
the shock jock said.
Robin Quivers, Stern’s sidekick, asked: “They don’t acknowledge you at all?”
“No. I’ll be sitting next to Tracy Morgan or Chris Rock,” Stern recalled. “You know, they seat you where they seat you.”
“And a lot of times when I’m there, I’m next to Tracy Morgan, who is so funny,” Stern continued. “And he’s sitting there and like, couple of the players will come over.”
“They like give him that bro shake and stuff,” Stern added. “And I’m like — these guys should hug me too.”
Stern said: “I mean, what am I? I grew up in a black neighborhood [in the Long Island town of Roosevelt], you know what I mean?”
“I mean they should know that. But I get ignored.”
Stern told Quivers that he thought he was being shunned because he’s a “white guy.”
“You think it’s a racial thing? I’m sure they talk to some white people,” Quivers said.
“No, not that I saw. I want them to. I want them to talk to me,” Stern said.
“I want them to come up and go, ‘Hey Howard, fan of the show or something.’ I don’t get that.”
Stern said he has gotten some attention from both black and white referees.
“Can I get a shout-out from some of the players?” Stern said.
He added: “I just get upset. I’m like, you know, fame to me is very important. I’ll admit it. I like people to recognize me.”
“They might be recognizing you. Just not speaking to you,” Quivers said.
“Yeah, maybe they don’t like me. I don’t know,” Stern said.
“I’d like to think it’s a white thing, not my personality.”
“I hope it’s racial. That’s all.”
