Artie Lange, Howard Stern’s long-time sidekick has checked himself into rehab for his decades-old problem with drugs and alcohol. Lange’s Rep. Lewis Kay confirmed to the NY Post that he checked himself into the "intensive outpatient rehab program."

With this announces comes the canceling of an upcoming stand-up comedy tour, and many appearances, including the Comedy Central Roast of Bob Saget. According to a friend, Lange "felt awful for not being there for Bob, but needed to make his health a priority."

This comes right on the heels of Lange’s on-air argument with his assistant, which turned physical, last April on the Howard Stern Show. This resulted in him giving his resignation to the Sirius Satellite show, in which he apologized to Howard. He later returned to the show, apologetic.

Artie Lange is probably best know for his work on MADtv, as well as his co-starring role in the 1998 Norm MacDonald film, "Dirty Work." He also stared in 2006’s "Beer League." He is expected to return to Howard Stern’s Radio Show once he has finished his much-needed rehab stint.

Editor’s Note:

This is much needed for Artie Lange. He is such a funny comedian, and such a great talent, it sucks to see him drinking and injecting his way to an early death. Let’s just hope that this goes well, and he gets the help he needs. This is not something that is a new topic, especially with Artie’s friends and fellow comedians. This is something his friends have been urging him to do for some time, so it’s good to see him finally do something about it. We don’t need to lose more funny people.

Check out this link. It’s Colin Quinn roasting Artie Lange on the Howard Stern show. When he gets to Artie, it’s more of an intervention and a plea for him to help himself, than anything.