Howard Stern Doesn't Think He's 'Woke,' After Bragging About Being 'Woke' In 2023
"If I’m too woke, the world has turned upside down," Stern said.
In an interview last week with Andy Cohen, Howard Stern dismissed claims that he’s "woke."
"I was on vacation, and the next thing I know, I was in ‘Stephen Colbert land,’ where I was supposedly being thrown off by the FCC. I don't know why—something about being too woke? Too woke? I don't even know what a ‘woke’ is. What is woke?" Stern said, referring to August tabloid reports that SiriusXM didn’t plan to re-sign him.
"If I’m too woke, the world has turned upside down," he continued. "The stuff I do and talk about—I don’t even know what that means. But if it means I’m awakened, God bless."
Cohen told Stern that "woke" means "car[ing] about other people."
"Yeah," Stern replied. "Suddenly it’s not macho to give a f--- about anybody. But I’m not being fired. I’m talking to Sirius right now about extending in some way, and if that works out, great."
Howard Stern via OutKick
As OutKick first reported, SiriusXM isn’t firing Stern, and both sides are expected to reach a new deal. As for being "woke," Stern openly embraced the label just two years ago.
"I hear that a lot—that I’m not good anymore because I’m woke," Stern said in September 2023. "I take that as a compliment. To me, the opposite of woke is asleep. And if woke means I can’t get behind Trump, or that I support people who want to be transgender, or I’m for the vaccine—dude, call me as woke as you f---ing want.
"I am woke, motherf---er, 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," Stern said of the 2020 election. "I am woke. I think that’s a compliment."
Howard Stern launches absurd attack on Aaron Rodgers. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Of course, "woke" can mean different things to different people. For those who see it as shorthand for Trump Derangement Syndrome, lingering COVID paranoia, and the defense of censorship aimed only at conservatives, Stern fits the bill.
Then there’s his comparison of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler. In 2024, after the second attempted assassination of Trump, Stern agreed with a caller who drew the parallel.
"Hitler was perceived as a clown in Germany. … He was one of these buffoonish characters. Somehow, he won an election. And that was the end of Germany. He dragged them through hell and back," Stern said. "This feels like a replay of pre–World War II. I believe that if the election goes the wrong way, it’s the end of the United States."
Call him woke, erratic, or pathetic – the Howard Stern of the 1990s would barely recognize the Howard Stern of 2025. And that's a shame.