Howard Stern addresses Sirius XM firing rumors over being “too woke”

Howard Stern’s name resurfaced in headlines again this year, this time over rumors hinting that his long-running stint at SiriusXM could be nearing its end.

As Variety reported, the speculation originated from an August 5 Sun U.K. article citing an anonymous “insider” who claimed the broadcaster had no plans to renew Stern’s contract, set to expire in late 2025. Howard Stern has now addressed the rumours during his appearance on Andy Cohen Live on October 10, saying the chatter caught him off guard.

“I was on vacation and the next thing I know I was in Stephen Colbert Land where I was being thrown off by the FCC somehow, I don’t know whatever it was or because I’m too woke. Too woke? I don’t even know what a woke is. What is woke?” shared Stern.

He went on to say,

“The fact that if I’m too woke - the world has turned upside down. I mean, holy s**t, the stuff I do and talk about, I don’t even know what that means. But you know what? If it means I’m awakened, God bless.”

Andy Cohen offered that such an approach might “mean that you care about other people.” Howard Stern agreed, replying, “Yeah, I mean, it’s suddenly not macho to give a f**k about anybody,” before clarifying that he wasn’t being dismissed from SiriusXM.

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Howard Stern reflects on SiriusXM's future amid firing rumors

During his chat with Andy Cohen on Andy Cohen Live, Howard Stern didn’t just dismiss the firing rumors; he also reflected on what the future might hold for him at SiriusXM.

“If that works out, great. I love this company. I do, when I signed on, I think it was 200,000 subscribers. XM was killing us. And my dream, just like when I used to go to s***** radio stations, ‘Let’s f***ing win.’ And now today, there’s this robust company, and I’m very proud of it. And if I do end up staying with this company, I’m going to take ownership of that,” he shared.

His comments come after weeks of speculation. In August, multiple outlets cited rumours that Stern was being let go. The following month, he had a bit of fun with the chatter, tricking listeners into believing that Andy Cohen had taken over his time slot with a new program called Andy 100.

“I’m minding my own business, enjoying my summer vacation. [A reporter] says that I’ve been fired for being too woke, In light of the Stephen Colbert firing - because the word on Stephen was that it was all part of this merger, and they fired Stephen because he’s too woke - the story then became Howard Stern is fired because he’s too woke. What pisses me off is that now I can’t leave. I’ve been thinking about retiring. Now I can’t, ” explained Howard Stern.

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Howard Stern remains vital to SiriusXM, says company president Scott Greenstein

At the Bank of America conference on September 3, SiriusXM’s president and chief content officer Scott Greenstein weighed in, emphasizing Stern’s enduring importance to the brand.

“So Howard, for all these years and right up until now, is as important a content, single piece of content as we’ve had from the sense of being a lightning rod to get awareness for the service and publicity and all of that,” Greenstein said.

“He’s the best interviewer out there, period, bar none. And we’ve always had a series, as all of you know, of renewals. With any talent at that level, you’re always going to have an extended period of negotiations. We’ve been pretty lucky all these years. We’d love them to stay. It certainly has to make sense, but we feel pretty good that we’ve done this before, and we’ll see where it goes,” he added.

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Howard Stern speaks out against ABC’s handling of Jimmy Kimmel controversy

On September 22, the SiriusXM host broke his silence on what he described as a deeply personal and troubling issue: the suspension of his longtime friend Jimmy Kimmel from ABC. In the show, Stern abandoned his recent vow to steer clear of political talk.

“I can no longer keep my mouth shut, I feel obligated to say something, because s-t’s getting outta control,” Stern shared.

A vocal advocate for free speech throughout his five-decade career, Stern drew parallels to his own clashes with censorship and government regulators. “This involves the network ABC. They did something really dumb and f-kin’ horrible,” he added, before pivoting briefly into a tongue-in-cheek bit about changes to The Bachelor.

Addressing the controversy more directly, Stern said,

“Everyone knows what happened with Jimmy Kimmel. The bottom line is you really don’t need my voice to know that something horrible happened at ABC,”

He shared that in reference to the network’s decision to temporarily suspend Kimmel’s late-night show after backlash over his comments about the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. Calling Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, “dear dear friends,” Stern admitted that the decision hit him personally.

“I believe Jimmy is such a big talent, and quite frankly so is his wife. They’re two of the funniest people I have ever met,” he said

He also added that he often “shuts down” around them rather than compete with their humor.

As reported by Variety, Howard Stern had for years topped the charts as radio’s highest-paid personality, bringing in more than $100 million annually under his ongoing SiriusXM agreement. The veteran broadcaster first signed with the satellite service in 2004, and his current deal was set to run through the end of 2025.