‘It’s really Tom’s fault’: Howard Stern defends WEEI host who insulted Brady’s daughter

Howard Stern.Charles Sykes/Invision/AP/File

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Howard Stern on Tuesday defended the WEEI host who called Tom Brady’s daughter an “annoying little pissant” while on the air, saying the New England Patriots quarterback shouldn’t have featured his child in the new “Tom vs Time” documentary series if Brady didn’t want to open up his family to public criticism.

“I’ve got to stick up for radio guys, because number one, you’re on the air and it’s not like there’s a script,” Stern said Tuesday morning on his Sirius XM radio show. “But for Goddsakes — Tom Brady should know better. If you’re going to put your young child on a TV show, on the Internet, you’re putting her out there for comment.”

WEEI host Alex Reimer made the derogatory comment about Brady’s 5-year-old daughter, Vivian, during a morning show last Thursday. He has since been suspended indefinitely, according the station’s parent company.

Brady, who has a weekly guest spot on WEEI, cut short his segment with radio hosts “Kirk and Callahan” Monday, days ahead of the Super Bowl, because of the comment. He called Reimer’s remarks “very disappointing,” and said that he was reassessing his relationship with the station moving forward. Brady’s reaction set off a national firestorm over the controversial rhetoric.

Stern’s stance on the issue came after a frequent caller — “Tommy From Malden” — asked the host on Tuesday what he would do if someone like Jimmy Fallon, or another television host, insulted Stern’s own children.

“What would you do, would you go on the show again?,” the caller asked.

Stern at first said he knew what the caller was referring to, but admitted he hadn’t heard Reimer’s original broadcast. He also conceded that he wasn’t exactly familiar with how old Brady’s daughter is, or what the show, “Tom vs Time,” which is being rolled out in episodes on Facebook, is about.

“If I have any of this wrong it’s because it’s such, like, hearsay,” Stern said. “For me, I don’t really follow this stuff.”

But after several minutes on air, Stern learned more about what unfolded on WEEI, and continued to assert that Brady “[blew] his stack” and is to blame — though he later said “you don’t want anyone attacking your children.”

“If I was Tom Brady, I would take a deep breath, I’d swallow, go and see the psychiatrist, and say, ‘Hey, I overreacted,’ ” Stern said. “Because Tom put the kid’s behavior out there. It’s really Tom’s fault. And I don’t know Tom — I’m a great admirer of his physical prowess and his football ability — but don’t put your kid up on an Internet show and then get pissed when people comment on her behavior. You’re putting it out there for people to comment on. That’s what a TV show is.”

At the Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, hours after Brady and the Patriots arrived in Minnesota, he told reporters during a press conference that he hoped Reimer didn’t get fired for the disparaging comment.

But Stern, known for his controversial commentary, said the star quarterback needs to go further than that.

“He’s got to take a deep breath and say, ‘You know what, bring the guy back,’ ” Stern said of Reimer, though he didn’t use his name. “’And you know what I’m going to do, I’m going to take my kid off my Internet show.’”