Infantile Shock Jock Harasses Jennifer Capriati With On-Air Questions

Posted Jun 26, 2009 9:30PM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)

Jennifer Capriati, the 33-year-old retired tennis player who won three Grand Slam events, headlined a Wimbeldon event in New York City with Jim Courier this past week. Thus, when she was invited to appear on WFAN's 'Boomer and Carton' radio show in New York, she probably assumed the line of questioning would involve Wimbledon, her tennis career or the event.

Silly her. Capriati obviously didn't know the reputation of Craig Carton, the co-host opposite former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason. Carton plays the role of a sex-mongering 14-year-old any chance he gets, and his jabbing at all things sexual with Capriati was no different.

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Then: Jennifer Capriati, Tennis | Accomplishments: A winner of three Grand Slam titles (2001-2002), and an Olympic gold medal winner in 1992, she soared to celebrity status by turning pro three weeks shy of her 14th birthday. Click through to see Capriati more recently and other female sports icons then and now.

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Now: Capriati, who burned out on tennis and battled depression, last played on the pro tour in 2004. She underwent her third surgery on a shoulder in 2007, but has not ruled out playing again. Capriati can be seen on the ABC television reality series 'The Superstars'.

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Then: Andrea Jaeger, Tennis | Accomplishments: As a teenager in the early 1980s, tennis phenom Andrea Jaeger reached the finals of two major tournaments and reached No. 2 in the world rankings.

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Now: Jaeger became Sister Andrea, an Anglican Dominican nun, in 2006. She has devoted herself to helping kids with cancer and raises money to bring them to a Colorado ranch.

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Then: Anna Kournikova, Tennis | Accomplishments: Kournikova was ranked eighth in the world in 2000, but the Russian tennis star never won a singles tournament and her popularity was based as much on her looks as her play.

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Now: Kournikova, seen here at a Boys and Girls Club function recently, is less concerned about her sex appeal now at age 27 and is driven to get kids to be more active.

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Then: Nancy Kerrigan, Figure Skating | Accomplishments: The silver medal winner of the 1994 Winter Olympics, she will forever be linked to rival Tonya Harding. Kerrigan was clubbed on the knee by a man hired by Harding's husband in an attempt to secure a place on the Olympic team for Harding.

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Now: Her Nancy Kerrigan Foundation raises awareness and support for the vision impaired. She gave birth to her third child by husband Jerry Solomon in May 2008.

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Then: Summer Sanders, Swimming | Accomplishments: She led Stanford to the national championship in 1992 and then went on to win two gold medals in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

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Now: She is married to former Olympic skier Erik Schlopy and she gave birth to their second child in January 2008.

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After blatantly asking Capriati to have sex with him, Carton moved on to Joanna Krupa -- the Polish gal who recently took Terrell Owens to task for what she deemed a lackluster performance on Superstars (Capriati is also a contestant on the show). With thanks to The Sporting Blog, here's a quick transcript:

Carton: "Not that you're not hot, but you're no Joanna Krupa. How hot was she?"
Capriati: [Uncomfortable laugh] Uhhh, you know, not bad, not bad.
Carton: Would you ever get it on with a gal like that, or no?
Capriati: [Uncomfortable laugh] What kind of questions are these, man?
Carton: I only ask because she's a beautiful woman.
Capriati: [Uncomfortable laugh]
Carton: And I don't know about your sexuality, it's irrelevant to me, whether you like women or men or both ...
Boomer: Now come on ...
Carton: But as a single woman, you appreciate that Joanna Krupa's gorgeous, right?
Capriati: I appreciate beauty. Yes. Her personality was great too.
Carton: Great, so I don't know if you drink beer or if you're totally on the wagon with everything, but is there any moment where you could see you and Joanna maybe getting it on, or no way?
Capriati: No, no way.
Carton: You like men, yes?
Capriati: Yes.
Carton: Dammit.

OK, Craig. You aren't Howard Stern. In fact, Stern would at least find a way to be funny and engaging. This is just contrived eighth-grade nonsense. It requires no comedic talent or creativity. You could grab any buffoon off a street corner and tell him to sexually pester a public figure on the airwaves. The result would be the same.

I would say more, but there's a pretty thorough beatdown of Carton by Phil Mushnick in the New York Post. No reason to pile on when everything that needs to be said is already in print.

The bottom line is that "shock jock" should be a term reserved for people like Stern with some actual talent -- not someone desperately trying to be relevant with an already-saturated act.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 21)

6-26-2009 @ 10:36PM

Jason said...

I had no idea that this guy Carton was an idiot - get him off the air - Boomer should be appalled working with this clown.

6-29-2009 @ 6:45AM

crazymanny said...

im a listnerof there show and have to turn the radio off when he is on the air thats how bad he isi heard the interview live and couldnt believe my ears the venom coming from this guys mouth and boomer was just saying nothing like usual 2 bafoons. I lost all respect for boomer and had none for theother guy. Get HIM OFF THE AIR NOW.

6-29-2009 @ 6:58AM

boliviascs said...

i agree, why would boomer work with this guy? i always thought boomer was a class guy, but now i have to rethink that.

6-29-2009 @ 8:21AM

Al Conte Jr said...

Same old jerk from NJ 101.5 !

6-29-2009 @ 9:12AM

Leda said...

The author contrasts this shock jock with Stern and claims that Stern possessed more finesse. Fine, I'll tell that to the parents of the girls at Columbine High School. After the infamous school shooting, Howard Stern disparaged the shooters for not "having sex" with some of those "good-looking" high school girls -- before killing them, of course. Yeah, he was really classy. Not like this guy with Boomer.

6-29-2009 @ 9:55AM

FB said...

When someone wants to make a total fool of themself, get out of the way and let them do it. Carton did an excellent job of making a fool out of himself. I'm surprised Boomer Esiason, who I've always thought to be a pretty standup guy has put up with this bozo.

6-29-2009 @ 10:06AM

Gino said...

this guy is a disgrace and should be off the air immediatly. He emabarasses those of us who like raunchy humor and make me feel personally ashamed for listening to him... degrading vulnerable people who like Boomer. Get rid of him....NOW!!!!

6-29-2009 @ 12:45PM

Hugh said...

Craig Carton is not a "shock jock". He's just a nitwit. To even mention him in the same sentence with Howard Stern is an insult to Stern. Love him or hate him, Stern is widely recognized as an excellent interviewer and Carton only wishes he had one-tenth of Stern's wit, intelligence and talent. There must be a reason why Stern's contract pays him 500 million dollars and Carton gets fired from everywhere he works. Nuff said.

6-30-2009 @ 3:40PM

Taylors said...

this guy sounds like a useless waste of human life and trying to be a Howard Stern wannabe! I just lost a lot of respect for Boomer for even being near or even associating himself with this moran who probably couldn't get a job in the real world. Get off of your stupid chair dumbass.

7-01-2009 @ 2:29AM

jeets said...

This guy has intestines that work in reverse. He sticks a funnel up his ass and pours the food in backwards. Then he shits out of his mouth. A lot of times he has diarrhea and it makes his mouth run. She should have told him she needed to use the toilet, get his mouth over here. Maybe she could miss and splatter his face.

6-27-2009 @ 7:59PM

miracle2x2 said...

Talent? You just put Howard Stern and the word "talent" in the same sentence...Stern is an unfunny moron who just takes the same stupid tactics to the next level and is adored by inmature morons like yourself...I'll bet you think Dane Cook is funny too...

6-29-2009 @ 8:50AM

vicvlvic said...

Talent is perception like our opinions. Howard laughs all the way to the bank-because of his (lack?) talent. His actual talent is to make money, do you possess that talent. No! -if WE did then WE would not be posting would WE-lol?

6-29-2009 @ 8:51AM

deddend said...

Actually...I do believe Dane Cook is funny, and so do quite a few of my friends. If your on the internet rudely blasting people for their comedy, your worse than Stern could every be.

6-29-2009 @ 10:27AM

isuamlmbf said...

Howard Stern and talent. How about Howard Stern and copycat? If anyone remembers Howard in the early 80's they would know that he totally ripped off a DJ that called himself "Atom Smasher" who worked at WNAP in Indianapolis and then in Washington DC. You could listen to him one day, then a few days later hear it all again on Howard. Then in the 90's it was Howard doing the show and being copied by Bubba The Love Sponge in Tampa. Now Bubba works for Howard. Funny, none of these guys have any orriginal talent.

6-30-2009 @ 2:02PM

bessielburnsed said...

so damn tru.

6-27-2009 @ 9:56PM

warrenshapiro said...

I agree with Jason. I really like Boomer. Too bad this guy Carton sounds like a buffoon. I am just getting really tired of these guys and this kind of high school humor. It's just not creative and I don't find it funny or entertaining. It's also derivative. Howard isn't funny, but at least he's original. I have no use for any of them. It's rude and ill mannered to talk to a woman that way. Plain and simple. Nothing funny about it.

6-27-2009 @ 10:36PM

chilco said...

Let him cover the mullah's in Iran. He'd swing from a rope within hours.

6-29-2009 @ 11:10AM

indioscopper said...

actually I believe he would be worshipped there.

6-28-2009 @ 12:20AM

TIMMELOD said...

The writer of this story could maybe try a little harder to kiss Howard Stern's ass.
Stern is just as big a sexist pig as this guy and by OK'ing one to act that way you condone them all to act that way. He would have acted in the same way, if not worse, especially since he moved to satellite. Stern sucks.

Having said that, it is one thing to make jokes about someone you have as a guest on the show but the real pros are able to feed off of their guests and keep from making them feel insulted or uncomfortable. This guy is obviously unprofessional.

6-29-2009 @ 9:20AM

albertdavin said...

dude, howard stern never makes his guests feel insulted or uncomfortable. he does just as you say, he feeds off of his guests and does a great job doing it. his interviews are always top notch. if you don't like lewdness fine, but you can't argue howards interviewing skills. even when he's not being lewd and he's conducting a serious interview they are always great. he doesn't let anything slide. he asks the questions that people want to know. i have never seen or heard anyone get offended by one of his interviews. so by your own definition howard is a pro at what he does.