The Josh Innes Show - Howard Stern Hates Successful Podcasters

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

I don't know if this story is true or not. But, Howard Stern reportedly hates Alex Cooper, host of "Call Her Daddy" , Joe Rogan and Andy Cohen. Is it really shocking that this has been hates successful people in the new media world? His fall from relevancy has been a truly shocking one... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All right, everybody. Good morning. It is about 15 minutes away from 5 o'clock on the East Coast. Hello. Not really on the East Coast, just in the Eastern Time Zone. Glad you guys are listening to the pod. I appreciate you guys listening to the pod. You're wonderful folks, and it's great. So thank you. I didn't get into this yesterday. The story's from a couple of days ago. But it's about Howard Stern and his disdain for Call Her Daddy, the chick Alex, call her daddy, Alex Cooper, which if you haven't watched the documentary about this gal, it's actually, it's fascinating, but it's kind of a tale as old as time when it comes to chicks who become big in the media.

She took like the Sarah Spain approach, like kind of like titillating and, you know, using her looks to kind of get places and then get places and then just like totally kind of disregard stuff like that that got you there and kind of ignore the fact that that's what got you there. Although she still embraces the kind of smuttyness. of, like, she does, like, touring shows and stuff and still kind of embraces the smutiness that got her to the point that she's at. But she's also interviewing, you know, Kamala Harris.

And good for her, by the way. Like, it's wild how people become who they become. It's wild how you can go from being essentially a nobody. You put out one podcast, Dave Portnoy gets a hold of it, and you become one of the biggest things on the planet. So good for her. Like, I don't fault anybody. I don't possess, like, there's nothing in me that gets jealous of people like this.

I admire people like that. Like, I think that's cool as hell to be somebody who's out of sight, out of mind. Nobody knows who you are. You're sitting in your apartment. You record a podcast with one of your friends. One of the most important media people on the planet hears it. And before you know it, boom, you're huge. I think that's awesome.

Like, that kind of stuff doesn't make me jealous. Some people, apparently Howard Stern and other people get jealous of things like that. that's not something that bothers me. Let me play a couple of commercials and we'll get into this. All right, so to continue on that, and then we'll get into the stern part of this, but all you have to do, and I know it's easier said than done, but all you have to do is get in with Dave Portnoy. Dave Portnoy is a true star maker, and he's a star maker that's different than the guys

who say leave ESPN. I think we talked about this a little bit a couple days ago, but ESPN is a star maker. So when you leave ESPN, a lot of people who leave ESPN can have nice careers, but they're never going to be what they were when they were on ESPN. Like Rich Eisen, it's not, well, let me put it this way. Guys like Rich Eisen, guys like Dan Patrick, guys like Dan Lebitard, guys like that and Keith Olberman, guys like that are stars at ESPN.

And they can leave and go off and be their own type of star on their own right and make their money and be fine, they will never be culturally as relevant as they were when they were on ESPN. And ESPN can lose them and still survive. You know, we talk about how ESPN sucks and how ESPN is kind of, you know, it's all Stephen A. Smith and it's just crappy compared to what it used to be. You hear that all the time. I miss ESPN in the 90s. That's not my ESPN. Well, ESPN still survives. ESPN makes it because ESPN is bigger than the sum of its. parts. ESPN will always survive. That's why when I talk about Stephen A. Smith, if he were to leave, ESPN would be fine. They'd find a new Stephen A. Smith. And Stephen A. Smith would go off and do

whatever he does, podcast, whatever, and he'd have some form of success. But he would never be as relevant as he is with the platform provided to him by ESPN. It would never be the case. But for whatever reason, they keep Stephen A. Smith around as if he's the most important cog in the wheel. And maybe he is the most important cog to what they're doing now, but if he went away tomorrow, there'd still be an ESPN, and Stephen A. Smith would have a podcast somewhere that some people would listen to and he'd do fine, and somebody would spend millions to own it or whatever, but ESPN would still be ESPN. So I bring that up, because Howard Stern, again, who knows how true any of these reports are? Nobody knows. Nobody knows what's real. Nobody knows what's fiction. It's in page

six. That's in the New York Post. The New York Post is gossip. And look, I, been somebody who in the Philly versions of the gossip has had bad shit said about him by people and bad shit that was not true. So I don't know what's real, what is not. You get one disgruntled, you know, former employee, current employee, somebody speaking on, you know, anonymity who just wants to get their shit out there. And you don't know what's going to be out there and you don't know what's true. So that's important.

Radio icon Howard Stern is reportedly so repelled by Call Her Daddy. podcast host Alex Cooper that Sirius XMexex take pains to keep them from running into each other. Quote, she's the one that bugs him, an insider told the son earlier this week. Now, the son, of course, is not page six. This story is in page six. Quote, she gets hundreds of millions of hits. She has this mega $125 million deal, and he hates that this young bubbly woman is the new big thing. The source added, quote, that's who they have to keep Howard away from.

when she comes to New York. Why Howard would hate this person, I guess is pretty obvious, because Howard doesn't like people who are people that seemingly came out of nowhere, podcasters. I think Howard has always hated podcasters. I think that's always been his thing. He hates these, like, non-professional people that go out and become huge. He's never understood or cared about the podcast universe.

He is one of these old-school broadcasters. But what's funny about him is that, He hates anybody new that comes in and shakes things up. Like, I would imagine he probably hates Joe Rogan. He hates people that are part of the zeitgeist. And I think he hates people like that. I think deep down he knows that he's not top of mind anymore. Does it piss him off?

I don't know. He's still rich. He has his rich friends, his celebrity friends, his powerful friends. So I don't know if that actually pisses him off or not. But he's not top of mind. Nobody cares what he has to say. The only time he makes news is when he talks about. Trump. It's like Dan Patrick. The only time Dan Patrick makes any news is if Charles

Barclay says something wacky on his show or if he's talking shit about ESPN. Like people know what to come to you for. If it's Stern, if Stern's taking some shits on Trump or Trump people, that's when Stern makes news. That's when you see his name. Other than that, no one gives a shit. No one cares what Stern has to say. He is irrelevant. Oh, but he's a great interviewer. Cool. You know who cares about those interviews? The people he's interviewing and they're rich friends. People are bored with it. And for him to shit on call her daddy, look, I get it. You could look at this as someone who was a nobody and somehow struck gold. Absolutely true. Total nobody struck gold. But give credit to Dave Portnoy because Dave Portnoy

is the ultimate star maker. In the same way that back when you were a comedian in the 70s, and you went on the Johnny Carson show. If you appeared on there and killed, you were a star for life, you become part of Barstool and see where it takes you. I mean, look at Pat McAfee. Pat McAfee is entertaining on his own. He has a career of his own. He played football. But he got in with Dave Portnoy and Barstool, and that blew him up. And that's why he was able to go out and get gigantic deals and deals with ESPN, and that's why his show is so huge. Bussing with the boys. Same story. The buss them with the boys guys are fine. I mean, I've listened to it a couple times. I don't find them to be all that great. It's not really for me. But I'm not going to rip the

fact that they're successful, right? So these guys team up with Barstool and they become so big that they're able to go out on their own, turn down a deal from Barstool. And I think they teamed up with Draft Kings or Fan Duel or somebody like that. Call Her Daddy is another example of that. Dave Portnoy finds people and the Barstool brand blows them up. And then, before you know it, they're getting $125 million deals at Sirius. Story continues. 30-year-old Cooper, who left Spotify to join Sirius in 2024, is based in L.A. The source claimed that both her presence at Sirius XM and her massive popularity have irked the radio legend.

Quote, it's completely turned Howard's world upside down. He's been in radio 40 years, and this change has really shocked everyone. Quote, Alex and Joe Rogan, there we go, Joe Rogan, these massive podcasters have traditional radio guys stunned, they added. The insider said Cooper is female. She's the next generation. I don't find her interesting either. I don't seek out her content, but I don't rip people for becoming famous or becoming popular or having a podcast that people listen to. I hate people who do that. I love it if millions of people listen to my podcast. But the reality is, I am not dedicated to it enough. I am lazy, and that is why it will never be that. And maybe I'm not that good. I don't

know. I mean, I think I'm decent. But, you know, like, there's a reason why I'm not Joe Rogan or even some lesser degree of a Joe Rogan or an Alex Cooper. Like, I don't, and I bring that up, not to blow myself, but I bring that up to say that there are a lot of people who are jealous of these people and cannot understand how these people have gotten to where they've gotten. I, on the other hand, look at them with admiration. I look at them and say, hey, that's pretty fucking cool that they were able to do what they've done, because not a lot of people have done that. There are a lot of people with podcast. There are a lot of people who are radio dudes that started podcasts that are successful. There are a lot of dudes that have started podcasts out of nowhere

that have become successful. It's very rare, but they have. But for the most part, it's people like this, you know, very rare that you get an Alex Cooper who is plucked from the air, absolute no one, obscurity. Dave Portnoy finds this obscure person and says, let's go. And this person becomes one of the biggest entities in podcasting. That's the future, this source explained. IHeart Radio is desperately trying to find someone like that. Well, hello. Reps for Stupa for Stern and Cooper did not immediately return page 6's request for comment.

Meanwhile, a separate insider told the outlet that Stern is upset by Andy Cohen's success at the network. Quote, Andy's interviews are regularly promoted by Sirius, while you just don't hear much about Hower's interviews. Because no one gives a shit. You're talking to the same fucking people over and over, and it's people that only you and your rich buddies give a shit about. How many times can you interview Seth Rogen or Amy Schumer or any of these other people? No one gives a shit. He would be jealous of Andy Cohen. Andy Cohen is charming and funny and outgoing and not a fucking shut-in, a hermit that hates everybody.

The outlet previously reported on Tuesday that the XM Shock Jock, who has been with the network since 2006, may not return after his contract expires. Quote, Stern's contract is up in the fall, and while Sirius is planning to make him an offer, they don't intend him to take it, the insider divulged to the outlet. Then, of course, there was the other story about how Stern is all motivated to go out and prove that he's the best interview ever. And this is, like, no one gives a shit, dude. Like, oh, now you're motivated. Now you're motivated to not do lazy bullshit. You've been mailing it in for years and years. You work three days a week, which, hey, good for you. Good work if you can get it.

But you work three days a week. No one gives a shit about you. You're no longer at top of mind. You are what you ripped IMS for being. You are IMS except worse because you've sold out your beliefs. Your fake, phony fucking beliefs that you went with for 30 years, 20 years, 25, 30 years. Those beliefs that got you where you got you got you. you have turned on those people and you have turned on those beliefs and the people that made you don't like you anymore.

And you've openly said that you don't like them. That is a recipe for failure. Now, granted, is it really failure if you've made hundreds of millions of dollars? I guess not. But I was talking with somebody the other day about this. Oh, this is a dude who we can now look back on and say it was a total phony. This is not someone who evolved. This is not someone who matured.

This is someone who was putting on an act for 20-something years. Then, whenever the act didn't need to be done anymore because he had gotten to where he wanted to and he decided he wanted to be best friends with Jimmy Kimmel and all these other big celebrities, he just completely sold out the people who got him where he ended up being. And those people, for the most part, have said, fuck you and they've tuned out. Like somebody was telling me the other day that serious claims like 24 million people listen to Howard Stern. bullshit. 24 million people don't fucking listen to Howard Stern. A million people probably don't listen to Howard Stern. Nobody gives his shit.

His shit doesn't appeal to people anymore. And I say that as someone who was a diehard fan and looked at him as sort of a hero to a degree, like a lot of broadcasters did. If you didn't think Howard was great and wanted to be that, you probably sucked and didn't make it anywhere. But the idea that that, this guy hates Alex Cooper, that tracks. The idea that this guy hates Joe Rogan, that tracks. I don't know if it's true. This could be bullshit, but I can believe it. I buy it because this

guy has always been that way. And now other people are getting this attention and he sits there at 71 old, decrepit, interviewing his Rich Hampton's buddies and making zero impact. So I can buy it. I believe it 100%. Anyway, more to come.