Howard Stern is facing fresh criticism from former staff who say the radio icon’s career 180 has seen him go from the edgiest shock jock on the air to a champion of woke ideals and political correctness.
Stern’s shift from having the most fearsome reputation in American entertainment to being what Kanye West described as an ‘irrelevant old man’ has been dramatic.
Influential figures as diverse as Donald Trump, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher and Wendy Williams have all made their thoughts on the now ‘woke’ 71-year-old Stern clear in recent years.
Adding to the humiliating decline, the SiriusXM personality has also been publicly criticized for overt changes by the pair of DJs who rattled him to the point he allegedly used his clout to silence them; decades-long fans; and employees who were regularly on the air during his heyday.
One of those ex-employees is Steve Grillo, the one-time intern and show associate who’s penned a newly-released memoir titled Gorilla Parts. He told the Daily Mail he felt Stern long ago abandoned his signature everyman comedy and suburban lifestyle to cozy up to the show business elites from Montauk to Malibu.
The Mail has spoken to a number of former Stern associates who now believe the star’s ‘Long Island everyman’ shtick was always an act – and one he found easy to shed once celebrities began to show him love.
Here, we track how the radio star’s career fell from having 20 million listeners a day to to figures fans believe are as low as 125,000.
Howard Stern pictured at the height of his influence in 1995 in NYC alongside longtime cohost Robin Quivers. He is being criticized for his slide into irrelevance
Germaphobe Stern left his home for the first time in two years to dine at NYC city’s Laser Wolf with A-listers Jennifer Aniston, Jon Hamm, Justin Theroux, Jimmy Kimmel and Jason Bateman
The Daily Mail reached out to Howard Stern’s rep Leslee Dart for comment, as well as SiriusXM for official ratings numbers for the Stern Show.
One of the self-proclaimed ‘King of All Media’s’ fiercest radio rivals, Gregg ‘Opie’ Hughes, claimed he’d be surprised if 200,000 listened to Stern on a regular basis now podcasts dominate.
Hughes, who runs the podcast Opie Radio, said Stern ‘always wanted to be accepted by the Hollywood elite’ and he now firmly believes it was all an ‘act’ when for years he portrayed himself as a Long Island everyman.
‘I believed he lied to his audience all these years and when he felt like he had nothing to lose, finally chose to show his true self,’ he said.
Hughes – who Stern reportedly once muzzled from mentioning his name in the early 2000s on the Opie and Anthony show – explained Stern ‘was a fake rebel by convenience because no one wanted him around until he became famous and wealthy’.
‘Stuttering’ John Melendez worked on The Howard Stern Show from 1988 until leaving in 2004 when he took an announcing job on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Melendez was best known on the show for asking celebrities humiliating and personal questions (penned by Stern, Jackie ‘The Jokeman’ Martling and Fred Norris) at red carpets, with marketers even showcasing him in materials to promote Stern’s early 90s variety show on WWOR-TV.
Melendez parlayed the clout he got from Stern’s massively popular show in the 90s into a record contract and reality TV stint on ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’ before landing a spot with Leno.
Steve Grillo, the one-time intern and show associate has penned a memoir titled Gorilla Parts, available now on Amazon.com. Pictured with former head writer Jackie Martling
One of Stern’s fiercest on-air rivals, Gregg ‘Opie’ Hughes, told the Daily Mail that Stern ‘always wanted to be accepted by the Hollywood elite. Pictured in NYC in 2012
Both Steve Grillo and Stuttering John Melendez told the Daily Mail they believe Stern always wanted to be accepted by A-list celebrities, despite depicting himself as what his late agent Don Buchwald described on The History of Howard Stern special as the ‘bad boy’ of radio
‘Stuttering’ John Melendez worked on The Howard Stern Show from 1988 until leaving in 2004 when he took an announcing job on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Melendez’s last days at the show were marked by Stern and his staff ironically labeling him a ‘sellout,’ and mocking his audition tape, despite Stern repeatedly bashing him on the air in a cruel and personal manner, and not paying him a fraction of what NBC and Leno were offering.
‘Howard Stern always wanted to be loved by celebrities,’ said Melendez, who made political headlines in 2018 with a prank call to President Donald Trump that went viral after the Daily Mail was first to publish the shocking story.
He said Stern – who gave gushing interviews to former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris last year during the election cycle – was never too far in one direction politically, by design.
While most in the industry now are aware of Stern’s fixation with the famous, at least one outspoken personality associated with the Stern Show noticed his burning desire to be admired by Hollywood’s elites.
In November 1994, late comedian and regular guest Pat Cooper launched a tirade where he accused Stern of being blinded by the light of A-list celebrities.
Stern made his name as a counterculture show business rebel, but quickly changed his positions when the celebrities he badmouthed accepted him.
Cooper cited the late Jackie Mason, Roseanne Barr and Tom Arnold as examples of celebs he ended up befriending – a trend that’s continued with Jennifer Aniston, Kathy Lee Gifford, Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres in later years.
In the 1994 appearance, Cooper went off on Stern after he learned he was set up in a toxic trap during which a trio of listeners would ambush him with accusations of badmouthing Stern while out in New York City.
‘I will not let anyone take my dignity or my pride away – you gotta be in A-company – don’t put me in B-company, I’m A-crowd!’ said Cooper, who died aged 93 in July 2023. Imitating Stern, Cooper said, ‘Roseanne, ‘I hate her, I want her to die’ – now you’re up her a**! Now you’re up her a**! Now you’re up her a**!’
Cooper, who made a memorable appearance on Seinfeld in a 1996 episode titled The Friar’s Club, also cited his frustration at Stern’s swelling ego on his rocket ride to fame.
The outspoken comedian, who appeared on Stern for years before an eventual falling-out, thought it was arrogant for the radio host to pass on late night appearances unless he was the first guest to appear.
Cooper in later years said he thought Stern was out of line for allegedly forcing his bosses to impose a gag order on Opie and Anthony.
The funnyman said it turned out to be a lucrative arrangement for the shock jock pair, who benefitted from the publicity they received as Stern’s most hated rivals.
Clark Griswold’s revenge
Two years before Cooper’s tirade, it was SNL alum Chevy Chase, who found himself in Stern‘s crosshairs, after he badmouthed him in a 1992 Larry King appearance
Stern obtained audio of the satellite feed from a listener during a commercial break, as the actor, who played the iconic comedic character Clark Griswold in the National Lampoon‘s Vacation films, said he found the radio host unfunny and obnoxious.
Chase called Stern an a**, said he had the ‘brain of an egg timer’ and compared him to media personalities Morton Downey Jr. and Dr. Joyce Brothers.
The radio star, who had already topped the New York and Philadelphia markets, began trashing Chase on his show and encouraged his listeners to harass him in public by yelling ‘Howard Stern’ at him.
In an ironic twist, the 1992 incarnation of Stern said that the original SNL cast had turned ‘into a bunch of Hollywood jerks – fat and old and not funny or on the edge or anything.
‘Chevy, be prepared to have your life become very miserable – you have no idea the hornet’s nest you just stepped into,’ Stern said after Chase ripped him.
The veteran actor wore jeans to Stern’s wedding after the shock jock abused him for years
Chase posed with Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds at SNL50 in NYC last month
Legendary late comedian Richard Belzer during an appearance provided Stern with Chase‘s home number, leading to a hysterical confrontation between the stalwart comedy leading man and rising radio superstar, with Chase bluntly telling Stern he didn’t like him and not to call his house again.
Stern admitted later on his 2009 SiriusXM special The History of Howard Stern that he was hurt the comedic staple hadn’t accepted him as the hot new player in the world of comedy.
‘It set me off, it made me uncontrollably mad,’ Stern said in the special. ‘I was pissed, here was Chevy Chase sating something really bad about me … I want to be accepted, I want him to say what a great comedian I am – and he wasn’t saying that.
Stern continued pestering Chase for years through proxies such as fans and Melendez until the two celebrities found common ground, with Chase making an appearance on the satellite show in September 2008.
Stern, comfortable with the détente and impressed by Chase’s fame, invited him to his wedding at New York City’s Le Cirque, which turned out to be a who’s who of New York celebrities.
They included now-President Donald Trump, John Stamos, Billy Joel and the late Barbara Walters, with Kelly Ripa’s husband Mark Consuelos marrying Howard and Beth.
Not all of Stern’s associates past and present made the cut for the A-list wedding: Both Stern’s longtime head writer Jackie Martling and one-time friend, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, publicly spoke about their disappointment of being overlooked in favor of more famous faces.
Stern might have regretted that when it comes to Chase, who delivered a filthy monologue with graphic sex jokes as a way to get back at Stern for all of the years of harassment.
The newlyweds were seen leaving the luxe Gotham establishment after the fall nuptials
While other guests such as Bubba The Love Sponge were publicly critical of Chevy’s foul conduct, Stern played it off as Hollywood gag between old friends, even though it was clear, Chase was fully getting retribution.
Stern said after the wedding, that he and Chase were not ‘great friends,’ but that Chase offered to attend after his appearance on the show and ‘it was fun to have famous guys there too’.
Stern later said that Chase ‘didn’t read the room correctly’ – though fans on online forums such as Radio Gunk and Reddit believed Chase knew exactly what he was doing in hijacking the proceedings with his foul-mouthed diatribe.
‘Howard tried hard to get as many A-list people to his wedding as possible,’ said one Reddit user. ‘He doesn’t really have many close friends so this was his way of looking like a big shot. Bit him in the a**!’
Stern has used his show to coax other guests, such as SNL lothario Pete Davidson, to badmouth Chase and call him a racist and a bad person.
‘One obvious way to see that Howard is no fan of Chevys is by the fact that Howard has never defended him when he was being attacked in the media & on social media,’ another Reddit user said
The user added, ‘When Pete Davidson was on, he said something like “f*** Chevy Chase, he’s a racist piece of s***” & Howard didn’t even question that statement.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Chase and his reps for further comment.
Stern met with Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jon Hamm, and Justin Theroux in a trendy restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn back in 2022
Beth Stern posed with Brooke Shields, Ali Wentworth, Mary McCormack, Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Bon Jovi in Stern’s Hamptons house in July of 2023. Stern put on a show from his home, where he has mostly broadcast from the past five years due to what he claims are Covid concerns
A listener’s perspective
An X/Twitter user under the handle @bringbackjackie, who liveblogs The Howard Stern Show as it airs, explained to the Daily Mail how he feels Stern has often ditched the loyal people in his inner circle to rub elbows with the Hollywood and Hamptons elites.
‘Ronnie Mund was a part of Howard’s life for almost 40 years and Stern couldn’t make it to Ronnie’s destination wedding in Vegas, but Hollywood Stern had no issue traveling to Mexico for Justin Theroux’s wedding,’ @bringbackjackie said.
The social media user noted that while ‘Howard used Covid as an excuse to avoid seeing his co-host Robin Quivers for four years … [he] had no problem meeting up with Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jon Hamm, and Justin Theroux in some trendy restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn’ called Laser Wolf ‘back in 2022.’
In the outing, an eyewitness told Page Six, ‘Howard was there without even a mask’ and ‘they all sat at a large table, [as] Howard was seated next to Jimmy and also at one point seemed to be in deep conversation with Jon Hamm.’
Stern has often ditched the loyal people in his inner circle to rub elbows with the Hamptons elites, an X user who live blogs the show told the Daily Mail. Pictured with Jerry Seinfeld and Alec Baldwin in East Hampton in July 2013
The X/Twitter user said that ‘Howard Stern insisting that he hasn’t gone Hollywood is as believable as his claims that he doesn’t have a hair system, or his insistence that the Stern Show broadcast from his home studio is a radio show and not a podcast.’
Despite the maskless celeb dinner months before, Stern again cited his fear of COVID-19 as reason to not go to the March 2023 wedding of longtime limo driver and security head Mund.
When the show’s Chris Wilding asked him if he would attend the event – which was not expected to have an amplified celebrity presence – Stern said, ‘Probably not – I’m worried about Covid.’
But just a few months later, in July of 2023, Howard’s Covid concerns appeared to dissipate when the people involved were fellow celebrities.
In pictures posted on Beth Stern’s Instagram, maskless celebs including Brooke Shields, Ali Wentworth, Mary McCormack, Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Bon Jovi gathered in Stern’s Hamptons house.
Stern at the time put on a special show from his home, where he has predominantly broadcast from the past five years due to what he claims are Covid concerns.
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