Amid ongoing negotiations about the future of his show, shock jock Howard Stern served up a new take on being woke and whether or not it applied to him.
“I don’t even know what a ‘woke’ is.”
Whether discussing gender ideology, COVID nanny state zealotry, or his full-throated support for then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ second failed White House bid, the longtime SiriusXM personality is no stranger to sitting squarely on the left. Now, a couple of months after doubt was cast about his contract renewal, Stern shared his version about winding up in “Colbert-land” while both denied being woke at the same time as he sought to redefine the term.
During a Thursday interview with fellow SiriusXM host Andy Cohen, Stern made clear he was in talks with the broadcaster about the future of his program while suggesting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may have had something to do with him “being thrown off” before defending a woke identity.
“I was on vacation, and the next thing I know, I was in Stephen Colbert-land where I was being thrown off by the FCC somehow,” he explained, referencing the late-night host whose show was set to end after the current season. “I don’t know what, whatever it was, or because I’m too woke … Too woke? I don’t even know what a ‘woke’ is. What is woke?”
“If I’m too woke, the world has turned upside down. I mean, holy sh*t, the stuff I do and talk about, I don’t even know what that means. But you know what? If it means I’m awakened, God bless,” added Stern as Cohen suggested, “Might mean that you care about other people.”
“Yeah. I mean, it’s suddenly not macho to give a f*ck about anybody, but I’m not being fired,” tried the shock jock. “I’m talking to Sirius right now about extending in some way, and if that works out, great, and if it doesn’t … not great. I love this company.”
The remarks were a stark contrast to only a couple of years prior, when in September 2023, Stern responded to criticism from then-former President Donald Trump about being woke by saying, “I hear that a lot that I’m not good anymore because I’m woke. By the way, I kind of take that as a compliment that I’m woke. I’ll tell you how I feel about it. To me, the opposite of woke is being asleep.”
Trump also referred to the radio personality as a “broken weirdo, unattractive both inside and out, trying like hell to be relevant!”
Trump burns Howard Stern, calls ‘woke’ shock jock a ‘broken weirdo… trying like hell to be relevant’ https://t.co/5j9v0I1GR8 via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) September 24, 2023
To further defend himself, Stern continued, “And if woke means I can’t get behind Trump, which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender or I’m for the vaccine, dude call me woke as you f*cking want.”
“I am woke, motherf*cker, and I love it. I want to be awake. I want to read legitimate news sources. Here’s how woke I am. I believe the election was not rigged,” he added in reference to election integrity challenges regarding the 2020 presidential election. “I am woke. I think that’s a compliment.”
Stern’s latest position on woke comes as his current five-year deal with SiriusXM is set to terminate at the end of the year, and, as reported, insiders had suggested the broadcaster would make the host a lowball offer that he might walk away from.
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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