The humiliation of Howard Stern shows little sign of stopping.
The Daily Mail revealed earlier this month that Stern’s 95-strong staff had been left blindsided by reports the 71-year-old’s radio career would finish at year’s end.
Sources even shared that Stern himself only discovered he was finished from a Google Alert, telling best friend Jimmy Kimmel: ‘First I’m hearing of it.’
Stern responded to the claims by quickly recording an ‘emergency show’ the following day, pointedly avoided addressing the speculation about his demise and instead just assuring listeners he’d return from his summer break on September 2 as planned.
Stern’s mammoth $500million five-year contract with SiriusXM expires at the end of the year.
The shock jock moved to Sirius in 2006 and the show has been on the decline ever since, with listener numbers plummeting from 20 million a week in the 1990s to as low as 125,000 today.
Earlier this week, and just days before his anticipated return, Stern turned to Instragram, writing: ‘Fired? Retiring? Canceled? Bye-Bye Booey? Howard Stern will speak. Tuesday, September 2. Only on @siriusxm #Howard100.’
The Howard Stern Show insiders have revealed new details about the shock jock’s broadcasting future as the end of his $500million five-year contract with SiriusXM approaches
Stern, 71, has hosted the second incarnation of The Howard Stern Show since 2006, but rumors arose the show was ‘doomed’ after the star became ‘ woke ‘ and listener numbers fell (with Madonna in 2015)
Now insiders have claimed the entire ‘quitting’ scenario was orchestrated from within the Howard Stern Show.
One inside put it bluntly that the ‘show being cancelled’ narrative was a ‘desperate hoax’ to drum up publicity and ‘try and make Stern relevant again’ amid declining popularity and relevance.
‘They’re desperately trying to make this thing to go viral to try to boost his numbers for his return on September 2’, the insider claimed.
‘His numbers are down so low that they’re desperately trying to make him relevant and get people to tune in to see what he’s going to say about getting «fired» from Sirius.
‘It was something they came up with on a viral scale to get people to tune in again. The numbers are so pathetic that they don’t know what to do.’
The insider added that Stern had ‘sold out his own audience so bad’ by mocking Trump voters and telling them he ‘didn’t want them listening to his show anymore’ that he was prompted to take radical steps to win them back.
‘From what I understand, this (the September 2 launch) is sort of going to be like a mea culpa to get the audience that he alienated back to listening to him’, the insider said, adding Stern would attempt a dramatic reinvention ‘into something he used to be.’
‘Stern could’ve retired 10 years ago. He’s not planning on retiring any time soon.’
A second insider said a defiant Stern is determined to give his naysayers a ‘rude awakening’ when he confirms his new contract with SiriusXM next month.
‘Howard anticipates to have a new contract with Sirius and to announce that upon his return to the airwaves on September 2’ they said.
Stern himself whipped his listeners into a frenzy just days ago as he vowed to address his future on the show on September 2 – in an Instagram post captioned: ‘Fired? Retiring? Canceled? Bye-Bye Booey? Howard Stern will speak’
Now an insider has sensationally claimed to the Daily Mail that Stern’s show being canceled was a ‘desperate hoax’ from show bosses to drum up publicity and ‘try and make Stern relevant again’ amid his declining popularity – pictured April 2024
Stern’s shift from having the most fearsome reputation in American entertainment to being what Kanye West described as an ‘irrelevant old man’ has been dramatic and he has faced backlash after admitting he was ‘woke’ in a dramatic 2023 interview – pictured with Seinfeld in 2013
An insider close to Howard Stern has dismissed speculation about his future, insisting ‘all the rumors will be addressed’ and warning critics of a ‘rude awakening.’
They added that what some see as his downfall is in fact ‘the beginning of his next chapter,’ with details set to be revealed in the coming days.
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Stern and SiriusXM for comment.
Stern, 70, has largely broadcast his show from home since COVID, but was once the most feared figure in American entertainment.
He rose to fame in the late 1980s and ’90s with outrageous stunts and no-holds-barred interviews, earning the title ‘King of All Media’ and even starring in his own 1997 biopic Private Parts. His guests have ranged from celebrities to presidents – Donald Trump appeared more than 20 times – and he’s published several best-selling books.
But Stern has also courted controversy: Kanye West branded him an ‘irrelevant old man,’ he faced backlash for proudly calling himself ‘woke’.
Stern himself has admitted regrets, including a brutal early ’90s interview with Robin Williams that he later called one of the lowest points of his career.
In 2023 after hearing claims that he’s ‘not good anymore’ Stern declared: ‘ By the way, I kind of take that as a compliment, that I’m woke. I’ll tell you how I feel about it. To me the opposite of woke, is being asleep’
Donald Trump appeared on Stern’s show 20 times before becoming president, appearing with daughter Ivanka at one time
Stern has become controversial for some comments he made over the years, including saying some of the girls running from the Columbine High School shooting were ‘really good looking girls’ – Columbine shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold pictured
In March 1995, when Selena’s fans reeled from her shooting he made fun of them, playing gunshots over her music the day before her funeral and mocking fans with a fake Hispanic accent (Selena pictured 1994)
In his 2019 book Howard Stern Comes Again, Stern admitted he had ‘badgered’ Williams about divorcing his first wife and marrying his son’s nanny, and later realized he had been ‘attacking the guy’ instead of letting him be funny and open.
Stern wrote that Williams was one of the greatest performers of all time and that he deeply regretted never apologizing to him before his death in 2014
But he’s also sparked outrage with offensive remarks.
After the Columbine shooting, he said some of the fleeing girls were ‘really good-looking,’ and asked, ‘Did those kids try to have sex with any of them?’
‘If I was going to kill some people, I’d take them out with sex.’
In 1995, he mocked Selena’s fans with gunshot sounds and a fake Hispanic accent the day before her funeral.
