Howard Stern blocked Artie Lange from CBS late night hosting gig, 'Stuttering' John Melendez claims
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Melendez shares the revelation in his new memoir Easy For You To Say in relating to  his own bitter split from the Stern show in 2004.
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Artie Lange's chances at a CBS late night gig were torched by his former boss Howard Stern, 'Stuttering' John Melendez claims Lange told him.

Melendez, 53, shares the revelation in his new memoir Easy For You To Say, in relating to his own bitter split from the Stern show in 2004 when he was hand-picked by Jay Leno to be the announcer on The Tonight Show.

Melendez said that when he got the offer to work for Leno, he was afraid Stern, 64, would sabotage the move, so he only told one person - Lange, 51, his closest friend on the program.

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'He was happy for me but felt I should have told Howard before I signed the deal,' Melendez said in his memoir. 'I was like, "Look, Artie, there’s no freaking way. I’m not going to tell Howard and have him f*** it up on me." If that happened, I would be out two gigs, and I couldn’t afford to risk that. Artie disagreed, but he would soon find out just how right I was.'

Melendez said that years later, Lange confirmed that his fears were valid with a jarring claim of his own: That Stern had used his clout to block Lange from a chance at hosting CBS's The Late Late Show (currently hosted by James Corden) after host Craig Kilborn's 2004 departure.

'Artie confessed to me that at one time he was up to try out for the host of the CBS show that followed Letterman after [Kilbourn] left,' Melendez said. 'They were doing two-week tryouts for various hosts, and the show’s producer thought Artie would be a good fit for it, and called Howard to get his blessing. Howard was furious. He was like, "Rob, you can’t steal my guy."

'And just like that, Artie was out a gig. This is a fact, and Artie told me the story. My fear of him f***ing up the deal had been well-founded. The motherf***er did it to Artie.'

Melendez told DailyMail.com he feels Lange - who has made headlines in recent years amid his drug and legal battles - would have done 'pretty well' with the high-profile position at that time.

'In those days he wasn't snorting heroin,' Melendez said, 'so he was on top of his game.'

Melendez said in his book that Lange's career path might not have been the only one impacted by Stern's influence, citing rumors that cast member Fred Norris might have been blocked by the King of All Media in his acting pursuits.

'There had been rumors that Howard had [agent Don] Buchwald stop sending Fred out on acting auditions,' Melendez wrote, 'because he feared he might lose him.'

Melendez made national headlines earlier this year after prank-calling President Donald Trump while the commander-in-chief was aboard Air Force One, posing as New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Lange and Stern's reps for comment.