Years ago, when I was trying to explain to people at a party what I did for a living, an older man from New York said “oh like Howard Stern,” and I took it as the biggest compliment. Howard used to be much edgier and ruder as a radio host, but he changed and grew, a lot of us do that, and now he’s known as a friend to celebrities. He’s had two bestselling books out, and there’s a new one coming next week called Howard Stern Comes Again. It has transcripts of his favorite interviews and some personal stories he’s never revealed before. The Hollywood Reporter has a profile and interview with Howard to promote the book, and it’s a great read on his career and philosophy. Howard gets very self-reflective, he admits he was an a-hole to celebrities and to his family, and he also reveals that he took three days off work for surgery in May, 2017. He needed to have a growth removed from his kidney which could have been cancer. (It wasn’t, and he kept the reason for his absence from the audience until now.) I especially like how he backed down from his feud with Wendy Williams. (In March Wendy said Howard had lost his edge and went Hollywood. He then trashed her and called her a nobody.) Howard also sounded like he felt somewhat guilty for helping humanize Trump by letting him be on his show so often. He backed down on giving him publicity once Trump secured the nomination. Here are some excerpts:
On his heydey and what an a-hole he was
I didn’t know what was up and what was down, and there was no room for anybody else on the planet. I remember thinking, ‘How could I have missed out in my life on someone so special because of some dumb posturing on the radio?’On how America’s Got Talent helped humanize him to the public
I had a reputation as a stark-raving lunatic before tha. I went from America’s nightmare to Santa Claus. Literally, people were putting their kids on my lap.Gwyneth Paltrow’s 2015 interview in which she got bawdy, turned things around for him
Sure enough, we start talking, and she’s fascinating, and I’m getting to know her, and then she goes: ‘One of the things you can do to make your man happy, ladies, is, like, sometimes in the middle of a fight, I just blow him. It ends everything.’ So, she took me there.He hasn’t talked to Trump since Trump asked him to go to the Republican National Convention and he declined
It was a difficult thing because there’s a part of me that really likes Donald, but I just don’t agree politically. A more self-serving person would have gone all in on Donald because I’d probably be the FCC commissioner or a Supreme Court justice by now.He supported Hillary and kept trying to get her on his show
There’s a segment of my audience that really gets turned on to people they thought they hated because we tap into their humanity. They were like, ‘F-k Lady Gaga, why are you having her on?’ And then it’s over, and they go, ‘Shit man, I’m going to go see her in concert.’He admits Wendy Williams may have been right about him
That was me at my worst. I thought she was saying that I was a piece of shit and I sucked. But as [I hear it] now, I don’t see it as an offense at all. If ‘Hollywood’ means that I’ve evolved in some way and the show has changed, then yeah, she hit the nail on the head.
Howard isn’t sure if or when he’ll retire, but he’s been daydreaming about it. He’s 65, but I don’t see him leaving his post anytime soon. I think he’ll be working for at least 10 to 15 more years, he just loves it so much and he’s so good at it. It’s also kind of cool to think that he reinvented himself in his late 50s. He’s really open, honest and willing to change and that’s why he has so many fans. As for his feud with Wendy, I bet that he also heard about her sad personal life and feels bad for that reason too.
Oh and of course I had to check Howard’s wife Beth’s Instagram. This beautiful cat with one eye needs a home! She doesn’t get along with other cats but is sweet to people.
photos credit: THR, WENN and via Instagram
I LOVE Beth Sternās Instagram. Itās really humanized Howard for me too, to see how mushy he is about the cats. I think he really has evolved, good for him for being able to admit his mistakes.
Beth Stern is the reason I got on Instagram. Her posts calm me down when I hate the world (which is a lot), and I think she is a wonderful human being. Howard has grown on me over the years and I cannot wait to read his book!
Does that really help? I have crazy anxiety & I’m looking for any & all help. Maybe cat instagram is the way to go.
@BeanieBean try ASMR on YouTube for your anxiety. it really helps.
Same!
Same same, she is literally an angel. Love her and its made me see him in a new light as well.
My mom always used to listen to Howard Stern so I’ve always had a soft spot for him. He is one of the best interviewers and can get so much out of his guests.
That Gwyneth quote is one of the most stupid and irritating things she has said-even for her.
yeah all I could think was of course she would say some bullshit like that. Good Lord.
Same. She cannot be taken seriously ever.
But what she said is true.
What she said is not a true/false statement. Itās also slightly disturbing and a completely inappropriate move.
I donāt like GP, but that BJ during a fight is super effective.
Itās ridiculous.
I listened to him in the late 90s and he was definitely bawdy, even up to his first year on satellite, but heās definitely changed. Heās self deprecating, witty, thoughtful and so entertaining. I hate that heās only on 3 days a week
I listen when he had a guest I am interested in & I like The News with Robin. I miss Artie & canāt stand the phony phone calls.
I miss Artie too. Unfortunately he hasnāt gotten any better. I follow him on twitter and itās one depressing thing after another. I cringe at the phony phone calls too except for the Sour Shoes/Steve Langford one. That one is gold
@sayrah that one is good!!
I feel old, but I not only do I remember when he was on in the afternoon on K-Rock, but when he switched to the morning, one of my teachers would let us listen to him in our art class. That was 88 or 89. I remember him on Letterman too. I had a crush on him. I used to think Letterman was hot too! LOL… Beth’s IG is great – she does great animal rescue work. I adopted my first cat in 1996 from NSAL. AND it’s amusing to see Howard loving on their cats.
ah, then you must remember when he got banned from DC 101. IIRC, he called Air Florida and asked to purchase a one-way ticket to the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac.
Yes he did that…..
I was in high school in Alexandria, VA and we were on a field trip to Congress or something like that on the day of the plane crash. Even though we were on the same route and had to cross the 14th St. Bridge over the Potomac to return to the school, no one from our school was involved, but I remember the shock and horror of the day. It was tasteless, shock humor but at the time I was surprised they fired him for it.
Now the Grease Man….when he got fired for a racist remark when Martin Luther King’s birthday was made a holiday….even if taken out of context like some of his supporters said back then, deserved to be fired.
oh, I LOATHED the Greaseman. He was possibly the most annoying morning guy ever.
Stern may have been more rude/shock/offensive back then than he is now, but the Greaseman, with the way he affected his voice?…UGH, so damn grating.
True story: my dorm next door neighbor was unable to get up for her morning classes…as in, she would sleep through just about EVERY alarm (no radio). in the AM, I’d go into her room and turn on DC 101 on her stereo, which was across the room from her bed. that was ONE thing she couldn’t sleep through, so she’d have to get up out of bed to turn him off.
I can top that…I remember when he was on WNBC (660, a.m. radio!) in NY. IIRC he followed the Don Imus show…I was VERY young, lol!
I struggle with Stern. In college in the early 90s I hated him. Then, after Private Parts, I really liked him and listened to him for a decade – right up to the election. After that I couldn’t listen to him anymore. I know he was a Clinton supporter but a lot of what he said and did gave fuel to Trump supporters (at least the east coast white dudes I knew who felt like the PC culture was the worst thing that had ever happened to America). And then a new boyfriend with a special needs nephew made me appreciate how awful it was the way he made fun of the two mentally challenged fans that he had on a lot. Plus, watching the Lorena Bobbit special made me really appreciate how awful he was about that situation. I don’t listen to his show anymore so I don’t know if he ever apologized for that after the doc came out but he should because it was disgusting. So there’s still too much baggage there for me to think of him positively.
PS Plus, that Paltrow quote is so obnoxious. Every time she opens her mouth I dislike her more.
I feel the same, especially after watching the Lorena series. However, while not as exaggerated as Stern, I fall into the go for a laugh before you have your facts category too. I have some empathy or understanding for his old self.
His thing with Wendy was just a couple few weeks ago. I don’t see how that’s him “at his worst” and we’re basically still in the same month when it took place.
In his (terrible and abhorrent) response to Wendy, he said something about how he’s a dirtbag and I fail to see the lie.
Eh, Wendyās a really revolting human being. Her favourite parenting story is about how her son walked in on her blowing her ex, and she made eye contact and kept going to teach him a lesson about making noise before entering a room (she doesnāt believe in doors).
Stern could have been much harsher and sheād have deserved all of it.
Howard Stern and Eminem are both men who seem to get balanced responses that problematic women just don’t get so much. Like, it’s good if he’s actually evolved, but it would never be acceptable for a famous woman to hit her 60’s or 50’s and then ‘evolve’ into a better person or better ally on pretty much any issue (except for the few kinds of bigotry and abuse that are still ok for us). Women typically just aren’t given that kind of patience, even if they have mental illness or have been through some kind of abuse. They’re expected to immediately get why everything is or isn’t acceptable or appropriate, fully understand and anticipate all potential negative impacts any action or association may have on others, and be ready to act accordingly at all times- preferably by the time they’re adults, or by the time their brains are fully developed at the latest. Even if you look at someone like Eminem, who isn’t as old as Howard Stern but has said and done things that range from questionable to very fucked up, you can see it. There are people who haven’t cancelled these men, or if they have, can manage to be reasonable about them, while not only being much harsher and problematic about women who are younger than them and have issues, but demanding that all feminists and liberals share their harshness too.
Thans otaku fairy. You said everything that I wanted to say. I’d also add his constant berating and dehumanizing of Palestinians. He’s disgusting just like those icky replies in here.
Donāt for get his autobiographical movie
( the title escapes me) he wrote and directed.
I think heās increibally talented and love to YouTube his interviews as he treats everyone the same and will ask anyone anything…
Recently watched the Lorena Bobbit documentary and I was so disgusted by Howard Stern in it. I personally will never support him again, I can’t get those words out of my head.
I’ll leave a few:
“Did you have to smack this new girlfriend around or was she okay? Well sometimes they donāt listen, you know how that is.ā –HS asked to John Bobbit, a repeat domestic abuser (and a Trump supporter, naturally)
“she’s not that great looking.” –HS on why he didn’t believe Lorena was viciously raped innumerable times by John Bobbit.
I think Stern is a great interviewer and I am a loyal listener but part of me misses the curmudgeonly outsider who ragged on the beautiful people and called them out on their BS.
Love him. Always did, always will. He changed radio.
I don’t love all of the things that are done on Howard’s show. Or rather, I didn’t last time I listened. But I cannot deny that he is a phenomenally talented interviewer and fascinating person. And he absolutely deserves credit for evolving as a person.
I can’t be a fan of Howard Stern. I tried to like his show back in the day but the judging of women’s hotness.
And the making fun of people on his show just turned me off of him.
As a New Yorker,in the 90s, somehow taxis I’d catch were tuned to him on mornings to work and even when I’d arrive at work, people had the show on for a few minutes until we’d begin working .
But there was one guest he use to have on who both creeped me out and laugh out loud, that was some guy name Mark Harris, I think he was married to a older movie star. Those interviews were insane. I usually just ended up shocked and laughed out of the awkwardness and bizarreness of some of the Howard interviews.
Ha! Mark Harris was married to Martha Rae. I didnāt listen live back then but have heard specials from then and man that guy was out there.
Lol.
Yes, Mark was so bizarre. I couldn’t stop laughing.
That one-eyed kitty is beautiful.
Awww…lil Clopsy ā¤ļø
Awww…lil Clopsy ā¤ļø
His comment about Trump is funny and so true…. if Howard would have kissed up to him he would indeed be like Secretary of Defense right now.
I’ve always loved him. He is an incredible interviewer. IMO, he began to evolve his public image when he got with Beth. She really grounded him and opened his eyes I think.
If Howard and Robin talked about his parents all day I would be happy. I laugh my head off when he impersonates his Dad.