Howard Stern pulled a fast one on his listeners and the press Monday, making them all believe that he’d walked away from SiriusXM after two decades amid rumors of contract drama with the network.
It turns out, however, that “The King of All Media” isn’t going anywhere and will remain on the air for the foreseeable future.
After postponing his return from summer break last week, Stern was not behind the microphone Monday morning as originally scheduled. Instead, Bravo star Andy Cohen surprisingly showed up to host the show – and deliver some somber news to Stern’s fans.
“I know you’re expecting a big announcement from Howard, and this is actually not how things were meant to go,” Cohen sighed, adding: “Howard and the executive team at Sirius felt that it was best to kinda part ways now.”
With Cohen also announcing that the Howard Stern channel would now be christened “Andy 100,” a number of media outlets quickly published stories declaring that the 71-year-old Stern had departed from the network.
“Howard Stern’s Show Canceled at SiriusXM, Andy Cohen Takes Over Stern’s Channel,” Variety’s headline blared, while the Associated Press declared that Stern “walks away” from the satellite giant after twenty years.
Following the reports of Cohen replacing him, Stern returned to the airwaves to “set the record straight,” stating that “everything you’ve been reading in the paper about” him and co-host Robin Quivers leaving “is completely false.” He also thanked Cohen for taking part in his on-air prank.
“Lest anyone think that was real, that was all masterminded by me,” Stern proudly stated, referencing the Variety headline.
“I said to Andy, ‘Would you cut a bit for us?’ And he immediately said yes,” he added. “I said, ‘Go as long as you want, because the longer it goes on, the more people will think it’s real.’ And Andy had no problem with that. He’s the best.”
That led media outlets to quickly update articles reflect the fact that Stern is still at the network and that he has not been replaced by Cohen.
Stern, whose long-running morning show has been airing on SiriusXM since he moved from terrestrial radio in 2006, went on to address the rumors that his time with the network was soon ending, with his deal expiring at the end of the year.
Having initially signed a massive five-year/$500 million contract with the broadcaster in 2004, Stern has since inked multiple extensions with Sirius XM, with his most recent one reportedly worth $120 million annually.
“I was just getting so f***ing annoyed with everyone writing me, asking me if I was OK because I’d been fired,” he stated.
Adding that he’d “totally shut down” and refused to read the news during his summer vacation due to the rumors of his departure, Stern also noted that the reason he didn’t return to the air as scheduled initially last week was due to him being sick and having “no voice whatsoever” from a cold.
In the end, Stern praised the leadership at SiriusXM, saying that they’d “been nothing but lovely” and that the contract negotiations had been “fantastic” and handled in typical fashion. Though he insisted he is “very happy at SiriusXM,” Stern did say there was one downside about re-upping with the network.
“What p*sses me off is now I can’t leave,” he joked. “I’ve been thinking about retiring, but now I can’t.”
Amid reports last month that Stern’s show could be wrapping up, Donald Trump — who was once a regular guest on the shock jock’s radio show — asserted that Stern’s program had gone south after the radio personality refused to back him during the 2016 presidential election.
“He lost his audience. People said, ‘Give me a break.’ He went down when he endorsed Hillary Clinton [in 2016],” the president grumbled from the Oval Office in August
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