Howard Stern, the shock jock and self-anointed “king of all-media,” isn’t about to disappear from the airwaves.
The radio personality behind SiriusXM’s long-running “Howard Stern Show” said Monday he remains in talks with the entertainment company over a new contract after a prank left some listeners wondering whether he was leaving the platform.
“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,” Stern, 71, said during his show. “We’ve been talking.”
A SiriusXM spokesperson wouldn’t address the company’s talks with Stern.
The comments came after a stunt Stern pulled on his show in collaboration with Andy Cohen, a fellow SiriusXM host and TV personality. Instead of the normal kickoff from Stern on Monday morning, listeners were greeted by Cohen telling them he was taking over the slot and rebranding it as “Andy 100.”
“This is, I know, not the voice you expected to hear,” said Cohen. The host of “Andy Cohen Live” went on to say that this was not how things were meant to go.
“This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off,” Cohen said. “I’m kind of winging it.”
Fifteen minutes later, Stern returned to the airwaves and thanked Cohen for his help pulling off the hoax. “Lest anyone think that was real, that was all masterminded by me,” Stern said.
Addressing rumors about the show getting canceled, Stern added: “Everything you’ve been reading in the paper about me or about Robin is completely false.”
Stern’s contract with SiriusXM expires at the end of this year. The radio host has extended his contract with SiriusXM twice before, in 2010 and again in 2020 with a five-year, $500 million deal, according to Forbes.
contributed to this report.