CNBC anchors were duped live on air Monday when Howard Stern staged a fake exit from SiriusXM — a prank that briefly spread across newsrooms before being exposed as a stunt.
“Squawk Box” hosts Andrew Ross Sorkin and Becky Quick relayed to viewers that Stern had walked away and was being replaced by Bravo boss Andy Cohen.
Minutes later, Quick interrupted to say Stern had “trolled” the audience, prompting Sorkin to blurt, “That whole thing was a joke?!”
The gag began at 7 a.m. Eastern Time — the moment Stern was due back from vacation — when Cohen opened Stern’s channel from Stern’s seat and declared SiriusXM and Stern had “parted ways.”
Cohen teased a new “Andy 100” brand and said he couldn’t fill Stern’s void. The performance, amplified by Stern Show social accounts, convinced multiple outlets that the radio icon was gone.
Minutes later, Stern joined longtime co-host Robin Quivers on air to reveal it was all a put-on. He told listeners he’d been sick the prior week and leaned into online chatter about contract drama.
“Zero truth” existed to rumors he’d been fired or replaced, he said, adding that he remained “very happy” at SiriusXM.
The Associated Press fell hardest for the bit. The wire sent an alert and published a story saying Stern had left SiriusXM, which ricocheted across partner sites from WTOP to the New Haven Register.
Within the hour, AP yanked the copy and issued multiple “STORY REMOVED” notices, promising a corrected version.
Forbes, Sinclair’s KEYE in Texas and other aggregators also ran items on Cohen’s supposed takeover before updating their pages.
Newsday framed the hoax as commentary on modern media’s hair-trigger reflex to treat viral posts as proof. Mediaite, which posted the CNBC clip, highlighted how Sorkin and Quick corrected themselves in real time.
TMZ, the Daily Beast and others chronicled how the fake handoff ballooned amid weeks of speculation over Stern’s $500 million deal. SiriusXM executives had recently said they were “hopeful” about a renewal but offered no terms.
The prank hit a nerve because Stern’s absence over the summer fueled rumors he was being pushed out for being “too woke.”
On Monday, Stern mocked the rumor mill. “I was just getting so f—ing annoyed with everyone writing me, asking me if I was OK because I’d been fired,” he said.
Cohen’s cold open mirrored weeks of headlines about Stern’s contract.
Delivering a straight-faced handoff at the exact hour listeners expected Stern back, Cohen leaned into speculation and framed the transition as official.
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