One controversy after another—that was the way life rolled for Stern. And it seems he doesn’t care about the impact of his terrible conduct. Judith Barrigas, a taxpayer from Massachusetts had a private call with IRS agent, Jimmy Forsyth, on May 19, 2015, about her taxes. In an unlikely turn of events, Howard Stern aired (live!) on SiriusXM the confidential conversation which included Barrigas’ phone number.
Forsyth called The Howard Stern Show and was placed on hold until Howard was ready to take calls. While on hold, he took a call from Barrigas. Little did they know that the show’s producers and Stern were listening to them and eventually decided to broadcast snippets of their conversation. In February 2016, Barrigas sued Stern and the IRS for invasion of privacy and negligence.
He's A Musician at Heart
Howard Stern was born to be a man of many roles. Aside from a being a radio and TV personality, he even released three albums. Yes, you read that right: 3 albums! His first was released in 1982 during his time as a DJ, entitled 50 Ways to Rank Your Mother . The album includes tracks like “Richard’s Family Feud,” “I Shot Ron Reagan” and “Howard Stern Is A God.”
The second album, called Crucified By the FCC, was a compilation of his many scandalous moments from The Howard Stern Show which was released in 1992. His third album is the film soundtrack for Private Parts, a movie about his life which was released in 1997.
No Respect
Howard has been incredibly vocal about his hatred of the National Radio Hall of Fame . So it came as a shock when they announced, in 2012, that he was about to be inducted as their latest honoree into the Chicago institution. Faced with such an honor, the self-proclaimed “King of All Media” took to the radio to attack Bruce DuMont, the hall’s director, for the ninth time.
He argued that the only reason they were adding him as an inductee was that they realized they had to boost the profile of the “little-known Hall of Fame.” Now that’s another round of controversy.
Howard's Self Care Routine
Howard Stern is a certified workaholic and taking a break from work seems impossible to him. However, in a rare moment on May 2017, Stern did the unexpected and made his millions of followers worried when he canceled his radio show to take a “personal day.” Without any explanation, he sent the internet into a frenzy and assumptions flooded social media.
Was he just attending to personal issues? Were there marital problems? Had someone died? To set the record straight, Stern said “I wanted to take off today because my voice is still shot, but I was afraid to. I missed a day of work and all of a sudden it’s bigger news than James Comey.”
Stern Wants to Remain Youthful
Howard has been active in radio throughout his career and it seems that retirement is far from his plans. However, the popular radio host dropped a hint about withdrawing from his job. In an interview with David Letterman in August 2017, he recognized the glow in the TV host now that he’d retired by saying, “I fantasize that if I retire, I would have this youthful look.” And then he added. “I feel a bit burned out.”
With his demanding job, it is just right that he takes a break or a “personal day” every week but wait, millions will surely miss hearing him on the radio.