Howard Stern sent shockwaves through his audience Monday morning after staging a prank that briefly convinced listeners he was leaving SiriusXM.
At the top of Stern’s usual 7 a.m. time slot, Bravo host Andy Cohen opened the show instead, announcing that he was taking over the channel and rebranding it as “Andy 100.”
“This is, I know, not the voice that you expected to hear,” Cohen said. “This is not the voice that you probably wanted to hear, but it is I, Andy Cohen, and this is our first day broadcasting on Channel 100.”
Added Cohen: “I know you’re expecting a big announcement from Howard and this is not how things were meant to go. This was supposed to be a cleaner handoff. I’m kind of winging it. It’s a surreal morning here.”
Roughly 10 minutes later, Stern reclaimed the mic and revealed it was all a hoax.
“SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how we go forward in the future, they’ve approached me. They’ve sat down with me like they normally do and they’re fantastic,” he said. “We’ve been talking.”
The 71-year-old broadcaster blasted rumors that had swirled during his summer hiatus, ranging from claims that he’d been fired to speculation about animosity over SiriusXM’s hiring of podcaster Alex Cooper.
“I don’t know Alex Cooper,” Stern said on Monday’s show. “And if she is young and bubbly, God bless her because I’m the opposite.”
He also dismissed reports that SiriusXM had pushed him out because he was “too woke,” or because Cohen had leapfrogged him in the company’s hierarchy. “None of this is going on. None of it is true. Zero truth,” Stern said.
“What pisses me off is now I can’t leave,” Stern added. “I’ve been thinking about retiring, now I can’t.”
Stern admitted he delayed his scheduled Sept. 2 return because he was sick after seeing Metallica perform at the Stephen Talkhouse in the Hamptons. “If I get fired, don’t write me,” he told listeners, still hoarse from the lingering cold.
While Stern’s current $100 million-a-year deal runs through 2025 — with SiriusXM retaining rights to his back catalog through 2027 — questions about his next move loom large.
For now at least, the shock jock is still on the air and making headlines the way only he can.
