CNBC anchors have been duped stay on air Monday when Howard Stern staged a fake exit from SiriusXM — a prank that briefly unfold throughout newsrooms earlier than being uncovered as a stunt.
“Squawk Box” hosts Andrew Ross Sorkin and Becky Quick relayed to viewers that Stern had walked away and was being changed by Bravo boss Andy Cohen.
Minutes later, Quick interrupted to say Stern had “trolled” the viewers, prompting Sorkin to blurt, “That whole thing was a joke?!”
The gag started at 7 a.m. Eastern Time — the second Stern was due again from trip — when Cohen opened Stern’s channel from Stern’s seat and declared SiriusXM and Stern had “parted ways.”
Cohen teased a brand new “Andy 100” model and mentioned he couldn’t fill Stern’s void. The efficiency, amplified by Stern Show social accounts, satisfied a number of shops that the radio icon was gone.
Minutes later, Stern joined longtime co-host Robin Quivers on air to disclose it was all a put-on. He advised listeners he’d been sick the prior week and leaned into on-line chatter about contract drama.
“Zero truth” existed to rumors he’d been fired or changed, he mentioned, including that he remained “very happy” at SiriusXM.
The Associated Press fell hardest for the bit. The wire despatched an alert and revealed a narrative saying Stern had left SiriusXM, which ricocheted throughout associate websites from WTOP to the New Haven Register.
Within the hour, AP yanked the copy and issued a number of “STORY REMOVED” notices, promising a corrected model.
Forbes, Sinclair’s KEYE in Texas and different aggregators additionally ran gadgets on Cohen’s supposed takeover earlier than updating their pages.
Newsday framed the hoax as commentary on fashionable media’s hair-trigger reflex to deal with viral posts as proof. Mediaite, which posted the CNBC clip, highlighted how Sorkin and Quick corrected themselves in actual time.
TMZ, the Daily Beast and others chronicled how the fake handoff ballooned amid weeks of hypothesis over Stern’s $500 million deal. SiriusXM executives had not too long ago mentioned they have been “hopeful” a couple of renewal however supplied no phrases.
The prank hit a nerve as a result of Stern’s absence over the summer season 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 mentioned.
Cohen’s chilly open mirrored weeks of headlines about Stern’s contract.
Delivering a straight-faced handoff on the precise hour listeners anticipated Stern again, Cohen leaned into hypothesis and framed the transition as official.