John Melendez | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1965-10-04)October 4, 1965 (age 60)[1] Massapequa, New York, United States[1] |
| Other names | Stuttering John[1] |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1988–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
John Edward Melendez (born October 4, 1965), also known asStuttering John is an American entertainer.
He is best known for being a staff member andWack Packer onThe Howard Stern Show from 1988 to 2004. Initially working as an intern, Melendez became known for asking celebrities impertinent questions at events and press conferences with his stuttering. He left the show to become the announcer onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno and also worked on Leno's later shows. He has presentedThe Stuttering John Podcast since 2018.
Melendez grew up inMassapequa, New York, onLong Island and attendedPlainedge High School.[1][2][3] Melendez was born to aPuerto Rican father and aDanish mother. According to Melendez, he began tostutter when he was in the second grade as a result of psychological mistreatment from his father after he witnessed an argument between his parents.[4] He attendedPlainedge High School, graduating in 1983, where he was picked on by the neighborhood bullies because of his stuttering.[4]In 1988, Melendez attendedNew York University's film school and belonged to a band called "Rock Slide." His college roommate, comedianMitch Fatel, was on the verge of quitting his internship withThe Howard Stern Show, when Melendez asked him for a recommendation for an internship there. The show's producer,Gary Dell'Abate, mentioned Melendez's stuttering toHoward Stern who, without seeing him and even before he was interviewed, told the producer to hire him.[5]
On Stern's show, Melendez's primary role was answering phones and screening listener calls before they were allowed on the air. At the time of his joining, in addition to being heard in theNew York City andPhiladelphia radio markets viaInfinity Broadcasting Corporation-ownedWXRK 92.3 K-Rock andWYSP Rock94, respectively, the nationallysyndicated morningdrive time show had just addedWashington, D.C.'sWJFK (also owned by Infinity) as its third carrier.
Over time, Melendez became known for segments in which he asked celebrities confrontational questions atred carpet events, functions, promotional appearances, and press conferences. The puerile questions—written byHoward Stern,Fred Norris, andJackie Martling—centered around a given celebrity's private life and were premised on the idea that they would not want to look bad by refusing an interview from someone who stuttered. Melendez sported long hair andmetalT-shirts, asking questions by reading them from a sheet of paper. As he became better known, he occasionally wore a disguise consisting of anovercoat,fedora, andfake mustache. His interviews were characterized by punchline-free "joke" questions, such as asking actressMelanie Griffith how her father,Andy, was.
The absurdity of the questions Melendez asked was often amplified by the fact that he himself appeared to lack commonpop culture knowledge and often did not even seem to know who the subjects of his interview were or why they were famous. Melendez would thus frequently be unaware of why his questions would provoke such angry reactions, such as when he askedAlly Sheedy if she had vomited lately, unaware that the actress suffered frombulimia. Some celebrities were a personal target of Stern's, such asTed Williams, who was interviewed by Melendez because Stern disapproved of athletes charging money for autographs. Celebrities would often react angrily, but other times, they would take the questions in good humor.
Melendez notably interviewedGennifer Flowers,Ringo Starr, and theDalai Lama.[6] At Gennifer Flowers' news conference playing the 'Clinton Tapes', he asked her if she planned to sleep with any other candidates before theelection, to which she reacted by laughing.[7] He asked the Dalai Lama if anyone ever greeted him with "Hello Dalai!", in a joking reference to the play and movie; the Dalai Lama's translator whispered the translation to the Dalai Lama, who chuckled. At a press conference, Melendez asked Ringo Starr, "What did you do with the money?" When Starr asked, "What money?" Melendez responded with "The money your mother gave you for singing lessons!" Starr good-naturedly replied, "I spent it on fish and chips."[8] SingerDebbie Gibson also went along with the joke when Melendez asked her about losing an award toWilson Phillips, jokingly agreeing with his idea that "thefat one would eat the statue." Melendez also provided comic interest with his misadventures, poor grammar, and sloppy pronunciation.[9]
Melendez started receiving American national exposure in the early 1990s[9] as Stern's syndicated morning radio show acquired more markets (includingLos Angeles andCleveland) and particularly from June 1994 when itscondensed version began airing nightly onE!: Entertainment Television, a basic cable network with national coverage in the United States. In 1994, Melendez signed a record contract withAtlantic Records and released his self-titled album with a music video broadcast onMTV'sHeadbangers Ball.[6] That year, he was being paid $20,000 annually by the Stern show, which had 15 million listeners.[6]
In 1995, Melendez joined thelate-night talk showLast Call as a co-host.[10]
During his 15-year run as Stern's employee, Melendez also starred in theOff-Broadway showTony n' Tina's Wedding where he met his future wife, Suzanna. He appeared in such films asAirheads,Meet Wally Sparks,Dude, Where's My Car?, andOsmosis Jones, as well as Howard Stern's filmPrivate Parts. He has also appeared on television in episodes ofWings,Baywatch Nights, and the 2003 United States version of thereality seriesI'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!.[3]
Melendez was also the protagonist of some of the show's more outrageous moments. In 2001, duringA.J. Benza's appearance, Melendez got slapped in the face by Benza who did not appreciate the incessant lampooning ofhis failed late-night show, seeing Melendez as the main culprit. The on-air slap prompted an extended fracas and resulted in Benza being permanently banned from Stern's show.
Throughout the early part of 2002, Melendez and WXRK afternoon deejayLee Mroszak (aka "Crazy Cabbie") had numerous on-air spats, which were used by Stern as fodder for multiple segments on the show. Their feud eventually culminated in a boxing match scheduled for Friday morning May 31, 2002, atTrump Taj Mahal inAtlantic City and was promoted on the show as "The Flunky versus the Junkie" with 2,500 tickets going on sale for $100 each. The 7 a.m. fight, essentially an extended segment on the show which itself was broadcast from around the ring that morning, was set for five two-minute rounds with a two-minute break in between each round. It went the distance, with the 175 lb Melendez winning over the 262 lb Cabbie by unanimous decision.
Following a guest appearance onThe Tonight Show to promoteI'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2003, Melendez received an offer fromJay Leno to become the late-night show's New York 'correspondent' who would ask celebrities questions on the red carpet, similar to one of his roles on the Stern show. Melendez claimed that he turned down the offer because he could not get a private conversation with Stern to ask him about it. Stern later claimed how "lame" an idea it was for Leno to reuse Melendez the way Leno wanted to (in a less edgy way).
In parallel with his duties on the Stern show in the morning, Melendez got a daily afternoon show on New York City'sWXRK (The Howard Stern Showflagship station) from noon to 1 pm calledOut to Lunch, consisting mostly of taking musical requests by e-mail and playing them. The show was taped in 15 minutes, with the email and phone call requests being entirely fictional. The show was canceled on August 21, 2003, with Stern turning the announced cancellation into a 45-minute segment at the end of his live broadcast that day by having WXRK program director Robert Cross (aka Chuck Roast) come in and break the bad news on the air to Melendez.[11]
In February 2004, theNew York Post revealed that Melendez had been offered the announcer position onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno behind Stern's back while Stern's show was on vacation. Many perceived the move as an attempt byJay Leno to attract a younger demographic. Melendez's offer, which was made without Stern's knowledge, prompted a rift between Stern and Leno. Stern berated Leno on his show for weeks on end, with insults such as "To an 18- to 25-year-old male, Jay Leno is gay. He might as well put a dress on," as well as accusations that Leno was "ripping him off."[12]
Following Melendez's departure, Stern organized an on-air contest to find his replacement. Billed as "Win John's Job" (much like "Win Jackie's Money" after writer Jackie Martling walked out), the contest resulted in the hiring of Sal Governale (aka "Sal the Stockbroker") andRichard Christy, although for several years, L.A. radio disc-jockey "Scary Gary" (from 97.1 KSLX, which played Stern's radio show in Southern California) did Stuttering John style interviews that Stern would play on his show. Also, in his later years on the Stern show, John had become too recognizable for the type of celebrity interviews for which he became niche-famous.
In August 2020, Melendez sued theLiberty Media-majority-owned satellite and online radio platformSirius XM Holdings Inc. for "using his name, likeness, and voice without permission" on itstwo channels dedicated toThe Howard Stern Show and related content.[13] Filed in the Manhattan-basedU.S. district court, the complaint sought unspecified damages for Sirius XM's airing of old recordings of Melendez from his time onThe Howard Stern Show, with Melendez claiming such action violated California law and hisright of publicity while further estimating that more than 13,000 hours of the then-syndicated morning radio show feature his voice, name and identity which Sirius XM benefits from by selling advertising without compensating him.[13]
Melendez's lawsuit was dismissed in June 2021 by the U.S. District JudgePaul A. Crotty who ruled that U.S. federal copyright law preempted Melendez's claims that Sirius XM violated his publicity rights under California law.[14] The judge's written ruling further stated that Melendez did not show he was injured or that Sirius XM illegally used him to promote its services, adding that "the commercial advantage Sirius XM gains from playingThe Howard Stern Show archives and running the advertisements flows from the rebroadcasting of the copyrightable sound recordings themselves, not from Melendez's identity”.[14] Melendez's lawyer commented that the judge “adopted a unique analytic framework which we believe is inconsistent with prevailing law" while announcing the intention to appeal the ruling.[14] The appeal was dismissed by a three-judge panel in October 2022.[15]
Melendez debuted onThe Tonight Show on March 29, 2004, taking over forEdd Hall.[16] On the show, he was identified simply as "John Melendez" as opposed to "Stuttering John."
In late September 2004, only six months after Melendez joined the show, NBC announced that Leno would be succeeded by Conan O'Brien in 2009. Throughout his 2004–2009 run on theTonight Show, Melendez regularly appeared in the show's comedy sketches and did correspondent pieces. By July 2008, Leno's lastTonight Show was set for 29 May 2009.[17]
In December 2008, with the end of Leno's run on theTonight Show nearing, NBC (led by theNBCUniversal president and CEO,Jeff Zucker) announced the launch ofThe Jay Leno Show, a new prime time 10 p.m. Monday-to-Friday talk show set to premiere in September 2009. With Leno's finalTonight broadcast imminent, during spring 2009, Melendez was uncertain whether he'd have a place on Leno's upcoming prime time show, stating in a May 2009 interview: "After May 29 I get on my knees and pray and hope Jay brings me to the new show".[18] Melendez's ambiguous job status with Leno even prompted a sarcastic job offer from his former boss Stern.[19] In late July 2009, Melendez was confirmed as a writer on upcomingThe Jay Leno Show.[20] Confirmation of his status on Leno's newprime time show came later than that of Eubanks, weeks after the end of Leno's tenure onThe Tonight Show, which led to speculation that Melendez would not appear at all.
In September 2009, Melendez reunited with Leno and formerTonight bandleaderKevin Eubanks as a member of the writing staff onThe Jay Leno Show.[20]
When asked about Melendez's new role, Leno stated that Melendez would appear in comedy segments during the show and that the new show would not have a studio announcer (thoughWally Wingert would later serve as show announcer). OnThe Tonight Show, Leno described his interplay with Melendez as "awkward," saying "I'd throw toKevin Eubanks, and I'd throw to John, and I realized that my guy is Eubanks."[21]
Just like previously onThe Jay Leno Show, with the return of Leno'sThe Tonight Show in March 2010, Melendez continued in the writing role.[22] Melendez did not return as an announcer on the second incarnation ofThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno (the job went toWally Wingert), but instead was employed as a staff writer and occasional on-air segment host until Leno's departure fromThe Tonight Show on February 6, 2014.
In April 2018, he launched his new podcast,The Stuttering John Podcast. During Melendez's podcast on June 28, 2018, he prank-called theWhite House by pretending to be an assistant to Senator from New Jersey,Bob Menendez. Melendez ultimately received a call back fromPresidentDonald Trump as he was traveling onAir Force One. Melendez then impersonated Senator Menendez and had a four-minute conversation focusing on immigration reform and the Supreme Court vacancy. Notably, President Trump was congratulatory regarding the outcome of Senator Menendez'sethics lawsuit[broken anchor].[23] The White House has confirmed the security breach.[24]
On July 2, 2018, Melendez announced that he had retained lawyerMichael Avenatti to represent him in relation to the prank call after being visited bySecret Service agents over the previous weekend.[25]
In the 2020s, Melendez became the subject of an online community known as "the Dabbleverse", which is centered on mocking his podcasting and comedic efforts. The name "Dabbleverse" was coined after Melendez took great offense at being said to have "dabbled" in stand-up comedy.[26] In August 2025, Melendez sued two podcasters, including the formerStern Show stafferShuli Egar, alleging they had secretly recorded his phone calls,exploited his likeness, and used his discarded personal belongings as props to ridicule him for profit at a comedy event named "Dabblecon 2", held inRochester, New York, in August 2024.[27][28][29]
Melendez's bookEasy for You to Say was released in October 2018.[30]
After moving to California in 2004 to work onThe Tonight Show, Melendez lived inCalabasas with his wife Suzanna Keller and their three children. The couple filed for separation in October 2011 and divorced in 2012.[31]
Albums[32]
Singles[32]
Actor
Writer
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| Preceded by | The Tonight Show announcer 2004–2009 | Succeeded by |
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