HOWARD Stern’s employees are not allowed to speak directly to him at staff parties, sources have told The U.S. Sun.
Multiple insiders exclusively told The U.S. Sun about strange rules surrounding the Howard Stern Show’s fearless leader – as one source called the embattled company “cult-like.”
One insider told The U.S. Sun that staffers were sternly told not to directly address Stern, 72, at company gatherings.
“People were warned before any company parties not to speak to Howard, with the added note that people have actually gotten fired for it,” one insider claimed.
Stern once apparently addressed the rumor that there was an order not to speak to him at parties, insisting that it wasn’t true.
But the insider said the warnings to staff persisted nonetheless.
Meanwhile, sources noted that the vibe inside Stern’s SiriusXM wing in New York City felt “cultish.”
“All of these men [who work for Stern] are so desperate for Howard’s attention, it’s like they all just like want Daddy’s approval so bad,” one source familiar with the inner workings at the show said.
“I think that a lot of them like acted out to get that attention.
“You go into that compound, and it’s just pictures of Howard everywhere.
Most read in Entertainment
“And then everyone greets each other like ‘Hey now, hey now,’” said the source, referring to a Stern catch phrase.
“And it all seems light and fun, but once you step back, you see it as something else.”
Meanwhile, the second insider echoed the sentiments about Stern’s office culture and agreed it could feel like a cult, “especially if you’re on the outside looking in.”
“Whenever you’re part of something, and you know someone is in charge of everything, you know you want to please that person,” that second insider added.
The U.S. Sun reached out to the reps for Stern’s show for comment.
The U.S. Sun recently broke the news that operations behind the scenes at The Howard Stern Show have been quietly dismantled following the host’s announcement that he re-signed his contract with SiriusXM in December.
Insiders revealed that a massive wave of layoffs hit the offices on February 12, less than two months after the renewal news.
One source noted that fans barely noticed this first round because almost everyone affected worked behind the scenes.
“They let all these people go, and it was like, ‘Nothing to see here,’ since none of the people were on the air,” the source pointed out.
A second insider described the scale of the February cuts as staggering, claiming, “At least 40 people were let go.”
Sources added that another round on July 13 eliminated 16 more positions, this time including at least five on-air personalities.
While some staffers managed to push for better exit terms, negotiating with SiriusXM human resources proved tough for most.
Multiple sources previously told The U.S. Sun that several laid-off employees turned down the initial severance package, which equaled roughly one week of pay for each year of service.
These cuts came right after a company Zoom call revealed that Stern will scale back his schedule to just one live broadcast per week when he returns from his summer break in September.
Listeners are predictably furious about the news, with many declaring they are canceling their SiriusXM subscriptions.
Amid the fallout, Stern’s wife of nearly two decades, Beth, came to his defense during a recent chat with Bella magazine.
While praising his devotion to animal rescue work, she added, “He makes everything in my life good.”
