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Major news outlets, including the Associated Press and CNBC, were duped by Howard Stern on Monday when the radio legend fooled SiriusXM listeners with an elaborate prank that his program was taken off the air.
Stern, long the subject of tabloid speculation over whether he would remain at SiriusXM once his contract expires at the end of the year, was scheduled to appear live Monday. Instead, Bravo host Andy Cohen shocked listeners by taking his seat as the broadcast began.
“This is, I know, not the voice that you expected to hear, this is not the voice that you probably wanted to hear, but it is I, Andy Cohen, and this is our first day broadcasting on Andy 100. I know you’re expecting a big announcement from Howard and this is actually not how things were meant to go,” Cohen told listeners.
“There has been a lot of talk about what’s going to happen with Howard, is he fired? I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say except that he’s not here, and I am,” Cohen continued. “Howard and the executive team at SiriusXM felt that it was best to, kind of, part way now.”
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Major news outlets including the Associated Press and CNBC were duped by Howard Stern on Monday. (Getty Images)
Cohen continued the bit for several minutes, even urging Stern’s fans to give his program a chance.
Stern later joined the broadcast, thanked Cohen for the stunt, and said rumors about him leaving SiriusXM have been “completely false.” The gag fooled multiple media outlets into falsely reporting Stern’s departure.
“Lest anyone think that was real, that was all masterminded by me,” Stern said.
“Here’s the truth — SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how we go forward in the future,” he added. “They’ve approached me, they’ve sat down with me like they normally do, and they’re fantastic.”
The AP quickly published a false story and later issued a correction.
“This story first was published on Sept. 8, 2025. It was updated on Sept. 8, 2025, to correct that Howard Stern is not leaving SiriusXM and an announcement of his departure was a prank,” an AP editor’s note stated.
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Howard Stern has seen his influence fade in recent years. (Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
On CNBC, “Squawk Box” anchors Andrew Ross Sorkin and Rebecca Quick delivered the “breaking news.”
“We’ve got some breaking news for you this morning: Howard Stern officially splitting with SiriusXM after nearly 20 years,” Sorkin told viewers.
Quick added, “He was there when Sirius really took off, that was the thing that they built everything around… it got a lot of people to actually subscribe.”
A few moments later, Quick clarified that it was all a prank.
“He trolled viewers with a gag that Andy Cohen had taken over his slot,” Quick said. “I just have to say, I love this, this is the best Howard Stern thing he could ever do.”
Howard Stern watches Metallica perform during the launch of the “Maximum Metallica” channel on SiriusXM at Stephen Talkhouse on Aug. 28, 2025 in Amagansett, New York. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Variety also published a story declaring Stern’s program was canceled, reporting, “Howard Stern’s run on SiriusXM has come to an end after 20 years,” before later updating the article.
The shock jock, who has seen his influence fade in recent years as he embraced liberal politics, did not say whether he renewed his contract with SiriusXM, which is set to expire at the end of 2025.
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Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
