It’s hard to believe it’s been more than two years since the tragic accident that nearly killed Tracy Morgan and took the life of his close friend, comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair. Although doctors were initially unsure if Morgan would ever be able to perform again, the 30 Rock star went on to make a full recovery and comeback, hosting Saturday Night Live last year and even embarking on his Picking Up the Pieces comedy tour earlier this year.
While Morgan has physically recovered, it’s clear that he’s still fighting some emotional demons, as was evidenced by his appearance on The Howard Stern Show Tuesday, where he gave an emotionally candid and raw interview.
Morgan discussed everything from his early recovery, and waking up in the hospital not knowing what happened or if he would ever be able to see again (he was blind for five days following the accident), not finding out about his friend’s death until two weeks after the crash, how at one point in the hospital he nearly lost the will to live, to his wife and daughter giving him the motivation to eventually be able to walk again. One of the more shocking revelations is that his wife and baby daughter were supposed to have been traveling with him the night of the accident, but stayed home because the baby had a toothache.
Morgan still found ways to interject his trademark humor into the interview, going on in lengthy detail about his hospital masturbation habits and his busty physical therapist. When asked if he could ever bring himself to shop at Walmart again after what happened, he cracked, “When I was in that wheelchair I still shopped at Walmart. You still can’t beat their prices!” He then added, “After my settlement, everything went up a bit,” referencing his undisclosed windfall from his settlement with the big box chain.
Typically Stern only posts short clips of his interviews for non-subscribers, but in this case made an exception and made the entire 80 minute interview available. You can listen to the whole thing below.
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(Via The Howard Stern Show)
