Los Angeles [US], September 8 : Howard Stern has finally broken his silence over rumours of his exit after nearly a two-decade run at SiriusXM.
Refuting the reports about his retirement and non-renewal of his contract, Stern stated that he and his team have been in discussion about a possible new contract at the satellite radio company, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
"SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how to go forward in the future. They've approached me. They've sat down with me like they normally do, and they're fantastic. We've been talking," he said, as quoted by the outlet.
Maintaining that he is "very happy at Sirius", Stern denied reports about his exit due to the hiring of podcaster Alex Cooper and said that he instead supported her hiring, since he owns stock in the company and wishes to bring in more subscribers.
"I don't know Alex Cooper. And if she is young and bubbly, God bless her because I'm the opposite," he added.
Stern also shared his views about being jealous of Andy Cohen's promotion at SiriusXM and continued, "None of this is going on. None of it is true. Zero truth. What pisses me off is that I can't leave. I've been thinking about retiring, but now I can't."
In the meantime, Howard Stern also made a witty return to the air, pulling off a prank on his listeners with the help of Andy Cohen.
On Monday morning, listeners were treated to a surprise greeting from Cohen, who announced that the channel has been re-branded as "Andy 100." Not long after, Stern was back behind the mic, kicking off the show with a familiar "hey now."
"Lest anyone think that was real, that was all masterminded by me. Everything you've been reading in the paper about me or about Robin is completely false. Last week I was all set to come on and I made the mistake of going the last week of my vacation and actually interacting with people and I got so sick," he explained to his listeners, as quoted by Billboard.
Howard Stern's ongoing five-year deal is nearing its closure at the end of 2025, with rumours suggesting that the radio veteran might exit the iconic 'The Howard Stern Show.'
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