Howard Stern’s show has cut one of its most popular segments weeks after sweeping layoffs affected much of the staff.
Michael Rapaport, a MAGA convert and NYC mayoral hopeful, revealed that The Howard Stern Show has quietly axed its fantasy football league.
On his podcast, I Am Rapaport, the Friends star said the league is “now defunct.”
“Historical. It’s done. One of the greatest fantasy football leagues ever,” he said. “Probably the world’s most famous fantasy football league while I was in it.”
Rapaport, who once served as the league’s commissioner, continued, “It has come to an end, and obviously, there’s been so much talk about the Stern Show, and it’s going to one day a week, and the HBO of it all, and that’s not my place, nor do I have any information as to how that’s going to play out, why that’s playing out, and what that’s going to look like.”
“But I must admit publicly that the Stern Show fantasy football league is now defunct. It is defunct. Motherf--kers just can’t do it anymore.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to SiriusXM for comment.
The on-air competition, titled the Emotional Friends League, has run since 2008 and would often erupt into heated confrontations between participants.
It’s just the latest shake-up in Stern’s world. The 72-year-old shock jock laid off dozens of staffers in July. The list included major on-air personalities and long-term staffers like Benjy Bronk, Jon Blitt, Memet Walker and Mike Trainor. Trainor, for example, was a part of the radio jockey’s team for over a decade. Bronk worked for Stern for over 25 years.
Staffers were told that Stern “just doesn’t need that much content anymore,” according to Page Six.
It was subsequently announced that the SiriusXM show will downsize from two episodes a week to one.
Weeks later, Stern—the self-proclaimed “King of All Media”—announced that he had inked a deal to bring his show to HBO Max. Weekly filmed episodes will be available on the platform globally, beginning on Thursday, September 17.
“I am honored to bring my SiriusXM show to HBO Max, and through HBO Max to worldwide distribution,” Stern said in a statement.
“For years, my SiriusXM show has offered only brief video peeks. HBO convinced me to pull back the curtain and let the world watch; the amazing celebrities and musicians who drop by, our staff antics, and my conversations with Robin. Bringing my latest SiriusXM shows to HBO Max’s millions of viewers, every week, is a career highlight, and I’m thrilled to be joining the ranks of such prestigious television.”
“We couldn’t be happier to welcome Howard to HBO Max and to partner with SiriusXM to bring The Howard Stern Show to the platform,” HBO Chairman Casey Bloys said in a statement.
The sweeping changes come after months of speculation that the staunch MAGA critic would be fired or canceled. Donald Trump himself inflamed these rumors after falsely suggesting last year that Stern and SiriusXM parted ways.
Stern now reportedly views his HBO deal as “a big middle finger to all his critics who either want him done or think that he is done.”
