Get woke, go broke: Howard Stern’s $500M fall from relevance
By Joseph Ford Cotto
Howard Stern didn’t just have a radio show. He had a revolution. He was brash, vulgar, and fearless. He gave voice to the silenced, told dirty jokes with conviction, and turned a microphone into a battering ram against establishment sanctimony. But somewhere along the line, the rebel became the regime.
In the 1980s, Stern made his mark as a shock jock icon, captivating millions with raw, uncensored radio that thumbed its nose at polite society. He was a champion of free speech, someone who understood that everyday Americans—especially working-class listeners—wanted truth, not scripted politeness. He gave it to them, and they gave him their loyalty.
His 1997 film Private Parts was more than a biopic. It was a celebration of rebellion. The movie showcased how Stern turned vulgarity into art, laying bare the hypocrisy of buttoned-up media executives while connecting with a blue-collar audience that never saw themselves in the sanitized world of network television.
Then came 2006. Facing increasing fines from the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates terrestrial radio, Stern made a bold move to SiriusXM, escaping censorship. His fans followed him into satellite radio, celebrating his refusal to be muzzled by regulators.
By the 2010s, something began to shift. Gone were the raucous bits, the rants against media gatekeepers, the mocking of phonies in Hollywood. In their place came soft-focus celebrity interviews, where A-listers were coddled rather than challenged. Stern started playing the game he once ridiculed.
The breaking point, though, came in 2020.
Stern didn’t just advocate for COVID-19 vaccines. He mocked and vilified anyone who hesitated, calling the unvaccinated “imbeciles” and demanding mandatory compliance. That was a stunning reversal for a man who once championed personal freedom. Suddenly, the guy who fought government control was scolding average Americans for refusing medical mandates.
In that same year, Stern intensified his attacks on Donald Trump and his supporters, going so far as to declare that he “despised” the people who had once packed his fanbase. These weren’t critiques of policy. They were contemptuous broadsides against the very Americans who made his career possible.
It didn’t read as principle. It read as betrayal.
By 2023, Stern let the mask fully slip. He embraced the “woke” label, even calling it a “compliment” in one interview. The former free-speech crusader was now proudly aligned with progressive orthodoxy. He began defending cancel culture, cementing his brand change. The onetime populist rogue morphed into a safe, sanitized figure willing to toe the line for trendy lefties.
Then, in 2024, came the infamous Kamala Harris interview. Stern didn’t press her, didn’t challenge her. He gushed over her, offering the kind of fawning softball questions you’d expect from a campaign ad, not a once-revolutionary radio host. It confirmed what many already surmised: Stern was no longer speaking truth to power. He had become power’s mouthpiece.
As his half-decade, $500 million contract nears its end this year, SiriusXM has reportedly balked at renewing his deal. His sky-high salary, his declining cultural relevance, and the loss of his core audience should make clear why. The writing is on the wall: Stern’s transformation from rebel to regime hasn’t saved him. It’s sunk him.
It was quickly confirmed that SiriusXM is unlikely to renew Stern’s show due to financial disagreements, though no official statement from him or SiriusXM has been issued. For certain, his embrace of wokeness—along with the alienation of the working-class populists who once idolized him—made his ship sink.
Stern became the embodiment of a hard truth: Get woke, go broke.
Today, some fans and former staff estimate his listenership hovers around 125,000 daily. This is a far cry from the 20 million he once commanded during his terrestrial radio peak. Put another way, he gets only 0.625% of his glory days’ audience. SiriusXM hasn’t released formal figures, and they probably never will. The number itself is less important than the arc it represents.
This isn’t just about one man’s career unraveling. It’s about the consequences of abandoning authenticity to win elite approval. Howard Stern didn’t fade because the times changed. He faded because his change stretched beyond what his fans could believe in.
Stern mocked the powerful, then hoped for their approval. He championed rebellion; then, in his defining moment, became a mouthpiece for the status quo. He gave a voice to the voiceless, only to fundamentally transform his persona by disrespecting the people who powered his rise.
In doing so, he squandered not just his audience, but his legacy.
There’s no tragedy here. At least not one meriting sorrow for this faded radio star. Beyond question, there is a lesson. Howard Stern morphed into everything he once stood against, becoming the punchline of jokes about sellouts. Jokes he once might have delivered, with now-vanished skill.
That’s not sad. It’s justice. |
