Andy Cohen revealed that Howard Stern was the sole architect of his staged departure from SiriusXM.
“He came up with it and I was happy to do it—it was so fun,” Cohen said about the radio host in a video released by TMZ.
At 7 a.m. Monday, Cohen’s voice greeted listeners on the Howard Stern Show on Howard 100, sending the media and public into panic.
“You will have a home on Andy 100‚" the Bravo star said, pretending to take over and rebrand SiriusXM’s Channel 100.
The Associated Press was quick to report Stern’s sudden departure—a story that has since been corrected after it was revealed to be a prank.
Minutes into the broadcast, Stern came back on the program.
“Everything you’ve been reading about me or about [co-host] Robin [Quivers] is completely false,” Stern said.
“I’ve been thinking about retiring. Now I can’t because then they’ll say I got pushed out,” the radio host continued, explaining that talks with SiriusXM about re-signing have proceeded as they “normally do.”
The prank came after rumors spread that SiriusXM would not be renewing Stern’s contract, which expires at the end of this year.
“I think people were either really mad or they thought it was funny,” Cohen told TMZ.
According to Forbes, Stern signed a five-year, $500 million deal with SiriusXM in 2020. He has not said whether he has signed another contract.
“But one of the positive things about all this fake news is that I heard from a lot of companies who want the show,” Stern said on Monday’s show before saying he’s “happy at Sirius.”
When asked by TMZ about the purpose of the prank, Cohen said that he had no idea about what the plans were. “All I know is when I was asked, I was happy to do it,” he said.
