After Artie Lange embarrassed Joe Buck on his own talk show, he strongly disagreed with HBO about the best way to respond.

Buck recently joined The Small Bow Podcast, hosted by A.J. Daulerio, former editor-in-chief of Gawker and Deadspin. During the podcast, Daulerio asked Buck if he would ever host another talk show, which quickly elicited memories of his infamous interview with Artie Lange. The Hall of Fame announcer recruited Lange to join the premiere episode of Joe Buck Live on HBO in 2009, and it was one of the more cringeworthy appearances in late-night history.

“I was the one that got Artie booked,” Buck told Daulerio. “Because I’m a huge Stern fan, that was in the heyday of Artie on Stern. He’s a real sports fan…get him on, he’ll be a blast. They booked him, I go in beforehand, he could not have been nicer. I said, ‘When you get out there, light me up. Give me sh*t, I don’t care, let me have it.’ Now, what that means to me and you, and what that means to Artie were two different things.”

Lange did what Buck asked. But if you watch the interview again, it’s clear Buck was uncomfortable, as was much of the audience, who responded with more shock than laughter.

“I wrote the forward for his book,” Buck continued of Lange. “He admitted in the book that he snorted Vicodin and drank Jack Daniels, and then came out there. Okay, fine. Did I like it? No. Was I in a position where I could really fire back? No. I just had to kind of sit there and take it because I already had a day job. I just let him do his thing, and eventually it’s going to be over. HBO completely overreacted.”

After the immediate response to Lange’s appearance, Buck told HBO he wanted the comedian to return for their next show. HBO immediately answered, absolutely not.

“I said, ‘Well, then I’m not going to do it,’” Buck recalled. “I had to plead with HBO to let me do it. And I said, ‘I swear to you, I have a job at Fox. I just won’t do [this show].’ They said, ‘Not only are you not allowed to have him on, you’re not allowed to reference that it happened.’”

Buck noted he was the one who had to live with the backlash and the crowds yelling “Artie Lange” every time he walked into a stadium. Lange immediately said sorry for getting carried away, to which Buck said an apology wasn’t necessary, especially after encouraging the comedian to go at him. To prove the apology wasn’t necessary, Buck went ahead and told Lange he wanted him back on the show.

Eventually, HBO caved and allowed Lange to make a pre-recorded appearance during the cold open of their next show, where they poked fun at his previous appearance. Three months later, however, HBO canceled Joe Buck Live anyway, so who knows how concerned they were by his threat to leave. But the experience hasn’t soured Buck on the idea of hosting another talk show. It also didn’t sour his relationship with Lange. And with Lange having disappeared from the spotlight in recent years amid his battles with drug abuse, Buck still receives periodic voicemails from the former Stern Show contributor.

“I just root for him,” Buck said. I think he’s got a huge heart.”