Howard Stern’s latest on-air stunt lit the fuse for a fresh celebrity dust-up, and Roseanne Barr came armed with gasoline. After the radio titan kicked off the week by pranking listeners that his SiriusXM show was canceled and replaced by Andy Cohen, Stern needled a bizarre bikini meme Barr had posted of him and Stephen Colbert. That jab flipped the switch, and Barr unloaded on X with a scorched-earth tirade aimed squarely at the self-styled King of All Media.
The meme itself was a head-scratcher. Back in August, Barr shared an image of Stern and Colbert in women’s bikinis, a visual gag that Stern later referenced while wondering why he was suddenly on Barr’s enemies list. The post ricocheted around social media and set the stage for the feud that erupted this week when Stern brushed it off, then swiped back on air.
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) August 12, 2025
Barr’s response was volcanic. “Howard Stern still having a hard time realizing he is a p—- now,” she wrote, accusing him of abandoning free speech to “shill” for cancel culture and “fascists.” Yet in the same breath she called him “the greatest who ever did it,” dubbing him radio’s Mount Rushmore before returning to the attack. “He’s a boot licking p—- now,” she added, insisting “they will never get to me.”
Stern, never one to duck a fight, fired back live. He told listeners he had no idea he was on Barr’s “list,” mocked the bikini post, and labeled her “a f—–g weirdo,” later calling her “braindead” while questioning, “What happened to her?” The spitfire exchange vaulted across tabloids and timelines, with Stern’s riffs pouring more fuel on Barr’s already raging thread.
Howard Stern still having a hard time realizing he is a pussy now. Maybe one day before he really quits he will realize where he went wrong shilling for fascists and pro cancel culture He used to be a bastion of free speech and now he’s a shill. https://t.co/wImMg0yVjl
— Roseanne Barr (@therealroseanne) September 9, 2025
The whole dust-up followed Stern’s headline-grabbing prank, which briefly sent fans spinning about his future. He quickly clarified there is “zero truth” to any exit chatter, saying he has considered retirement but, if anything, the rumor mill makes him stay put. He also stressed there is no bad blood with SiriusXM or Cohen.
Behind the scenes, the stakes are real. Stern’s five-year, roughly $500 million deal, signed in 2020, runs through the end of 2025, and he has said talks about what comes next are already underway. “SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how we go forward,” he explained, while business outlets noted his contract timeline and massive payout as negotiations loom.
Not everyone loved the prank. Multiple outlets reported staff anxiety after the fake “cancellation,” with sources claiming employees feared for their jobs amid the confusion. It was the kind of meta stunt Stern has trafficked in for decades, but in a post-layoff media world it landed like a live wire.
Stern shrugged off the bikini meme and kept his foot on the gas, while Barr doubled down, insisting the shock jock she once revered has lost his edge and his principles. If history is a guide, neither side is likely to blink. For now, the King is still on his throne, the queen of controversy is still tweeting, and the audience is getting exactly what it tuned in for.
