Questions That Shouldn’t Be Asked

Gary reminisces about Howard's interview with Wham!

March 31, 2006
Photo: The Howard Stern Show

Before Jon played a clip of Howard interviewing George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! at WNBC, Gary noted that, right before the duo went into the studio, he was warned by their manager that Howard shouldn’t ask them if they were gay. However, Gary commented that “telling Howard not to say something was actually telling him to say it.” Gary added that he used to get information about guests through their managers and he was given many incorrect facts about George and Andrew by their representation. Because of this, in the clip, Howard got George’s age wrong and also gave false reports about how long the group had been together as well as where they hung out. When Howard brought up, though, that he didn’t think George and Andrew were homosexual, they both assured him that was true. After listening to the segment, Gary said that Howard used to clap on the show when he wanted to accentuate a point he had made and that the applause was particularly loud in this clip because George and Andrew accompanied him in his clapping. Ralph then said that his favorite line in the interview was when Howard said, “I can tell you’re not f*gs.” Jon pointed out that Gary’s voice sounded noticeably different at the time as well. Gary acknowledged this as well as the fact that his Long Island accent was very prevalent during his WNBC days.