**UPDATE**

Punchline Magazine has the full audio of the confrontation on their site here. After listening to the entire thing it's obvious that Howard is at least partially to blame to bringing this fight about. You can tell in his voice that he honestly didn't expect things to get out of hand like they did, but that he wasn't really sorry that it happened the way that went down. Artie seemed genuinely pissed at Howard, and even started hitting him for some stuff that usually doesn't get talked about (especially the fact that Howard is notoriously distant from the people on the show). I'm interested to see how this plays out.

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The story of Artie Lange "resigning" from the Howard Stern show this morning might be the biggest story in the comedy world right now. The impact of this story has nothing to do with how you feel about Howard as a radio show host, or Artie as a comedian - there is simply no denying the power of the third chair on the Howard Stern Show. For those who don't know the story of what happened this morning I don't have Sirius so I haven't been able to get a good grip on what went down. Apparently, Artie who is scheduled to leave for Amsterdam tonight or tomorrow got into a fight off air with his personal assistant Teddy over the travel plans.

Of course Howard, being the radio mind that he is brought Teddy into the studio and had the confrontation on the air. Some people are a bit upset with Howard on this one, because they feel like this escalated the situation but at the end of the day his job is only to sell radio subscriptions and having Artie Lange almost kill Teddy Microphone on the air is a good way to do that job. So Artie and Teddy have to be separated by the staff and Artie threatens to kill Teddy because of some mismanagement of funds, and a loan of what I think was $5,000 that Artie gave to Teddy.

At this point Howard got upset, and he had enough. If there is one thing that Howard has been pretty firm about over the years it's small penis jokes, and not having violence inside his studio. I think that there might have been a bit of this building up recently though with Artie sleeping on the show, not showing up, or just being almost useless, so this might have sent Howard over the top, and he told Artie that if he couldn't control himself he'd have to leave the show. The story starts to get interesting at that point according to Pet Rock:

The comedian, who has had a similar outburst on the air in the past, said he cannot guarantee he can refrain from acting out in the future. Upon hearing that, Stern said he cannot have Lange around with the potential of such actions looming. Artie then offered his resignation; Stern accepted, but told Lange to leave and cool off. Just before Lange left he told Stern: "I'm not a good person ... I gotta leave ... I love you"

From what I've read the mood in the studio was very somber after the incident - apparently it had a real effect on people and they weren't ever able to recover from the situation. I know that Stern is off tomorrow and the entire show will be gone for vacation next week so we won't even know what the resolution to this whole ordeal is until the 21st of April at least, assuming Artie doesn't say anything between now and then (and supposedly he's leaving the country so I'm not sure we will hear from him).

A lot of the focus on this story has been centered around Artie and his self destructive behavior. The incidents from his past speak for themselves, he has admitted to being a flawed person, he eats too much, he drinks too much and he does too many drugs - none of that should be a surprise to people. He was on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week (promoting the show with Nick Di Paolo in LA) and he looked like hell, so to hear that Artie might not be doing well is sad, but it's not surprising. This story might have been the breaking point between Artie and those people in his life who care for him, but care for themselves and their jobs just as much - so as much as Howard probably wanted to keep Artie around, this outburst might have been what Howard needed to get rid of him. Don't think for a second that Howard Stern is one to quickly forget a grudge when he thinks you've wronged him, I mean him and Imus went at it before I was born and they still don't like one another. I don't know if a week will be enough for Artie.

But the biggest aspect of this story, and the part that people aren't talking about nearly enough is that the chair Artie Lange just left -- that's the kingmaker. You can say what you want about Howard Stern, the man has undeniably been a huge influence on the world of radio, and even though I'm an XM subscriber because of the Opie and Anthony Show, I am man enough to admit that he was at one point the King of All Media. Think about this, when Artie Lange got the job on the Stern show he was what? Headlining Yuck Yucks on the Jersey Shore if he was lucky? Did anyone know who Artie was other then the fat guy with Norm MacDonald from "Dirty Work"? or the guy who looked like hell on MadTV?

But he got the chair on Stern, and now he sells out 5000 seat amphitheaters all over the country. There is no denying that the spot on Stern can make a career, and Artie Lange just gave it up. If you don't think being associated with a radio program, and being on the air all the time is a huge opportunity for comedians go back and read our Tragic Talk with Nick Di Paolo where he claims that radio is the best medium for comics. So maybe Artie is gone, and I honestly hope that he gets himself together because I do think Artie is funny and I'd hate to have to put him into that pantheon of comedians - you know the one. But if he is off the Stern show that opens up a spot for someone to not just make a name for themselves, but make a career.

So we've got a little over one week to discover what happened. If you've got any information I'd love to hear from you - I will keep your name confidential if that's an issue but I want to know anything about Artie, his decision or the future of that empty seat on Stern. The main concern is obviously the health and well being of a man who no matter what you think about him is, at the very least the man who gave us "Beer League" (a dramatically underrated comedy) and I wouldn't wish ill on anyone who might actually hurt themselves. The secondary concern though is what happens now that there is a huge role available on the Stern show? One moment you're a strong middle working the New York club scene and the next minute you're one of the 10 most famous comedians in the country - and I don't think I'm overstating how powerful a place in that chair has the potential to be at this point either.

I will keep everyone updated as this story progresses either here, or on the forums so stay up to date with both