Howard Stern will reportedly not be back on his SiriusXM show this Tuesday, as he previously promised, following summer break.
The 71-year-old radio icon revealed his decision not to return through an email sent to his 95 employees on Labor Day evening. While the announcement was unexpected, it was thoughtfully crafted to avoid alarming staff.
A source disclosed to the Daily Mail that Howard’s choice stemmed from ‘frustrations over the new contract’ he was negotiating with the satellite and online radio firm.
Stern’s staggering $500M, five-year deal with SiriusXM is set to conclude at the year’s end, marking the end of a two-decade era since his transition to the network in 2006.
Originating from Queens, the broadcaster is reportedly facing challenges with the declining health of his cherished mother, Ray Schiffman Stern, who is approaching her 98th birthday on October 22.
‘It rips my heart out. I don’t want my mom to be uncomfortable. I just want to fix her,’ Howard lamented on his show back in February 2022.
Howard Stern, 71, will reportedly not be back on his SiriusXM show this Tuesday, as he previously promised, following summer break
‘I’m utterly tired and worn out. Imagine five synonyms for exhausted, and that’s me. I’m feeling so down. I mentioned on air yesterday that my mom isn’t doing well. She’s experiencing a lot of pain, you know? Physical discomfort.’
However, it was Stern’s father Ben who wound up passing away five months later from prostate cancer.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the famous radio personality’s rep and SiriusXM for comment.
Howard’s renowned terrestrial radio program, which aired from 1986 to 2005, once attracted 20 million weekly listeners, but it’s reported that his SiriusXM show has dwindled to as few as 125,000 listeners.
Stern previously promised on August 15 that all would be explained on this Tuesday’s show: ‘Fired? Retiring? Canceled? Bye-Bye Booey? Howard Stern will speak. Tuesday, September 2. Only on @siriusxm #Howard100.’
Former staffer Steve Grillo called the September 2nd publicity stunt teased by the former ‘King of All Media’ a ‘desperate hoax’ to ‘try and make Stern relevant again.’
‘I think that if old Howard Stern could go and jump in the time machine, he would punch him right in the face,’ Steve told the Daily Mail last Friday.
‘Come September 2, I think it’s just going to be everybody’s tuning in, and then I think they’re going to get disappointed and tune right back out. Unless he decides to put on a leather jacket and a pair of black jeans and then come back and was like, “I’m back baby,” which I highly doubt he’s going to do.’
Grillo thinks Howard ‘lost many listeners’ last September when he declared he was proud to be ‘woke’ and compared President Donald Trump to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
A source told the Daily Mail the shock jock announced he would not return in an email penned to his 95 employees on Labor Day evening, which came ‘out of the blue’ but was carefully worded in order to not panic staffers (pictured August 6)
The Queens-born broadcaster is said to be struggling with the ailing health of his beloved mother Ray Schiffman Stern (R, pictured in 1993), who’s set to turn 98 on October 22
Stern’s father Ben (L) passed away in 2002 from prostate cancer
‘Those people were the hard working people that wanted a change in this country and made him famous and made him rich,’ the 52-year-old author explained.
‘And he turned his back on them by saying, “If you like a certain political person, I don’t want you listening to my show”…That’s why he’s got 125,000 listeners. People cared about what he said every single day, and then he turns on them. What kind of arrogance and stupidity is that?’
President Donald Trump gave his take on why the longtime radio show host may be facing cancellation back in August.
‘Howard Stern is a name I haven’t heard – I used to do his show, we used to have fun – but I haven’t heard that name in a long time,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office about his 20 appearances on the show, including one infamous episode with daughter Ivanka.
‘What happened he got terminated?’ the president asked.
While Stern is yet to be ‘terminated’, it’s didn’t stop Trump giving his opinion on when things turned back for the shock jock.
‘You know when he went down? You know when he went down? ‘When he endorsed Hillary Clinton, he lost his audience. People said, ‘get me a break’. He went down when he endorsed Hillary Clinton.’
Clinton was Trump’s 2016 opponent. Stern also had Trump’s 2024 rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, on his show last year.
Stern’s sycophantic soft-ball interview with a clearly ailing Joe Biden in April 2024 was also widely criticized.
Howard’s titular terrestrial radio show, which aired from 1986-2005, used to amass 20M listeners a week but his SiriusXM show has reportedly dropped to as few as 125K listeners
Stern previously promised on August 15 that all would be explained on this Tuesday’s show: ‘Fired? Retiring? Canceled? Bye-Bye Booey? Howard Stern will speak. Tuesday, September 2. Only on @siriusxm #Howard100.’
Former staffer Steve Grillo called the September 2nd publicity stunt teased by the former ‘King of All Media’ a ‘desperate hoax’ to ‘try and make Stern relevant again’
President Trump scoffed to Real America’s Voice on August 6 (pictured) that he believed Stern went downhill in 2016 after he endorsed Hillary Clinton for POTUS: ‘He lost his audience. People said, “Give me a break”‘
But SiriusXM president/CCO Scott Greenstein (R, pictured in 2023) previously stated that the Private Parts author’s exit will be up to him alone: ‘He’s able, like many great artists, to stop whenever he wants’
Meanwhile, Frank blamed the Private Parts author’s decline on the July 22nd death of his ‘superagent’ Don Buchwald, and that his current COO Marci Turk ‘has drastically turned him into what he is right now.’
But SiriusXM president/CCO Scott Greenstein previously stated that Howard’s exit will be up to him alone.
‘He’s been with me and the company going on two decades, and so he’s pretty happy, but he’s also able, like many great artists, to stop whenever he wants,’ Greenstein told THR last October.
‘Nobody will ever replace them. We would never try to replace them. It’s not what is even appropriate, but even practical.’
On October 3, Stern and second wife Beth Ostrosky Stern will celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary.
The grandfather-of-three has three daughters – Emily, 42; Debra, 39; and Ashley, 32 – from his 21-year marriage to first ex-wife Alison Berns, which ended in 2001.
