Comedian Artie Lange in the hospital; Stern sidekick’s publicist won’t comment on the reason

Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange hospitalized

TRENTON, N.J. — A publicist for Artie Lange says the comedian and radio personality has been hospitalized.

In an e-mail sent Monday to The Associated Press, publicist Hilary Hansen declined to elaborate, saying, “Artie has chosen to keep all information on this matter between him and his doctor.”

The 42-year-old Lange, best known as Howard Stern’s radio sidekick, has been absent from Stern’s Sirius radio show for a month. On Monday’s show, Stern said Lange isn’t leaving the program and called him “a tremendous contributor.”

Lange, who lives in Hoboken, N.J., has battled drug addiction. In September, a New Jersey judge revoked his driving privileges for seven months after he admitted he was under the influence of prescribed sleeping pills in a minor traffic accident.