Howard Stern’s Biggest Celebrity Feuds Over the Years: David Letterman, Lena Dunham and More

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Howard Stern’s Biggest Celebrity Feuds Over the Years: David Letterman, Lena Dunham and More

Too blunt for his own good? Howard Stern has gotten into feuds with David Letterman, Lena Dunham and many more stars throughout his career. Before Stern and Letterman began their rivalry, they started off as friends in the ‘90s ​ — until the radio host started bashing the former late-night host. The two had a falling out and did not patch things up until 2018 when the Howard Stern Show host made an appearance on Letterman’s Netflix series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. “I was just a young man full of rage and I was angry. I was angry with you, that you were on television, that you had an audience. There was no rhyme or reason to it,” Stern explained to Letterman during their May 2018 sit-down. “I could not love anyone. I couldn’t respect anyone. I just thought this was who I was.” Stern credited his experience with therapy as the reason for his desire to reconcile with the former Late Show with David Letterman host. [jwplayer eRubnOsn-zhNYySv2] In 2013, the Private Parts star got into it with Dunham after he body-shamed her and slammed her show Girls on his radio show. ”It’s a little fat girl who kinda looks like Jonah Hill and she keeps taking her clothes off and it kind of feels like rape. … I don’t want to see that,” he scoffed at the time. "I learned that this little fat chick writes the show and directs the show and that makes sense to me because she's such a camera hog that the other characters barely are on." ​ Stern issued an apology to the Sharp Stick actress after she took home two Golden Globes for her HBO show. "I felt bad because I really do love the show Girls, and enjoy it, and I admire the girl who writes it," he apologized while on-air. "It makes me feel bad, and I think she is getting the impression that I somehow think she's just a talentless little fat chick." After hearing his remarks, Dunham joked about the comments while making an appearance on Letterman. She later called into The Howard Stern Show to call out the host for his insensitive jab at her weight and said, "I'm not that fat, Howard." To which he replied, “You're not obese or anything.” The Emmy nominee laughed and said she’d add that comment to her gravestone. Keep scrolling to see who else Stern has feuded with over the years:

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David Letterman

Letterman and Stern started off as friends as they worked in the same building as they began their respective careers . Their rivalry started brewing once the radio host started to bash his competition — and Letterman’s wife Regina Lasko, but the two patched things up in 2018. The David Letterman Show host opened up about his feud with Stern during a 2022 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

“I kept thinking to myself, he [Stern] must not have any feelings of his own,” Letterman recalled. “He’d say hurtful things and the more hurtful things he’d say the greater his audience would become. I thought, ‘I’m in the wrong business.'”

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Lena Dunham

The controversial radio personality kicked off his feud with the Girls creator after he called her a “fat girl” who “looks like Jonah Hill.” While Dunham brushed off the comments, she did get in touch with Stern on his radio show to call out his problematic remarks and received a public apology.

"I'm not that fat, Howard," she said while on the air. "I don't mean to take major issue with you about this. I'm not super thin, but I'm thin for, like, Detroit." ​(Dunham herself was called out for that comment by those who believe it had racial undertones.)

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Kathie Lee Gifford

The former Today host was trash-talked by Stern for nearly three decades. They finally squashed their beef when meeting face to face for the first time in 2012. 

“[I] said, ‘Hi, I think it’s time we probably we said hi,’ and he was stunned,” Gifford recalled during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in February 2014. Following their interaction, the talk show host received a voicemail from the former America’s Got Talent judge apologizing for his actions.

“[He said], ‘I used a lot of language but I’m so sorry. You never deserved it,’ she recalled to Cohen at the time. “‘You’ve always been so nice. You just pissed me off because you were everything I wasn’t.’ I’ve never shared this story,” she added.

When Gifford made her exit from the NBC morning show, she received a gigantic bouquet of red roses from the New York native and his wife, Beth. “How nice is that? That man hated my guts for 30 years, and I prayed for him every single day!” she quipped.

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Simon Cowell

The two candid TV personalities started to clash in 2015 when Cowell was selected to replace Stern as a judge on AGT. When Gabrielle Union made her controversial exit from the competition series in 2019, the shock jock accused the former American Idol judge as the mastermind behind it. 

"How is it that Simon Cowell has orchestrated this?” Stern pondered aloud on a December 2019 broadcast of his radio show. “He has set it up that the men stay, no matter how ugly they are, no matter how old they are, no matter how fat they are, no matter how talentless they are.”

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Wendy Williams

The Wendy Williams Show alum and the Howard Stern Comes Again author began bickering when the New Jersey native called him a “Hollywood insider” on a March 2019 episode of her talk show.

“Howard is so Hollywood right now and Howard, I love you, but since you’ve gone Hollywood, everything you say is so predictable,” the Dancing With the Stars alum said. “Every story [in your book] is going to be about, ‘Oh, I love this one and then we went on their yacht.’ He’s a Hollywood insider now, which sucks because you started like me, being of the people. But at some point, you sat behind the microphone for too long and now you are the people.”

Stern quickly clapped back after hearing her candid thoughts. “What evidence do you have that I’m Hollywood, honey? I grew up a scumbag and I’m still treated like a scumbag,” he shot back that same day. “What, because I found success now that I’m ‘Hollywood?’ What, ‘cause I know Jimmy Kimmel? Who am I hanging out with? She doesn’t know who I’m hanging out with. She doesn’t know what I do in this world. She doesn’t know who I’m f–king with. All she talks on that show is about Hollywood. That’s as Hollywood as you get. If anyone in Hollywood called her to hang out, she’d [be there] in two seconds. All of that is a projection.”

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Meghan Markle and Prince Harry

After the couple’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, released in December 2022, Stern did not hold back on his opinions after watching the first three episodes.

“It’s been painful,” he said on his Sirius XM show. “I wouldn’t stay with it, but my wife wants to watch it. You know, we have shows we watch. But they come off like such whiny bitches. I gotta tell you man, I just don’t get it.”

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Jon Bon Jovi

The “It’s My Life” musician had a close bond with the comedian in the ‘80s. Stern played the rock star’s early music when he worked at K-Rock, a New York radio station. The two went through a rough patch when Bon Jovi started to promote his music on rival stations.

"He gave me some lame excuse that the record company stopped him because the other stations threatened not to play the record if he came on with me," Stern recalled in his 1993, Private Parts. "I knew this was bulls–t, and I teased him for kowtowing to the record execs. I renamed him Jon Bon Phony. Jon sounded really contrite and offered to come over to my house, wash the car and babysit my kids for restitution."

The pair made up in 1992 after their mutual friend, Sam Kinison, was killed in a car accident. In 2018, the “Living On a Prayer” crooner convinced the radio host to induct his band into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

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Adam Sandler

Tension brewed between the two as the Miss America author constantly criticized the Waterboy star’s movies over the years. In December 2015, Sandler made a surprising appearance on Stern’s show to clear the air and revealed that the bad reviews hurt his feelings.

 “When I was at NYU freshman year, I loved you. That’s why it was weird when you used to slam me. It would break my heart because I loved you growing up,” the Billy Madison actor explained to Stern, who offered him an apology.

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Donald Trump

The talk show host and the former President of the United States had a close friendship before Trump entered the White House.

“I personally wish that he had never run. I told him that,” Stern said on his show in February 2017. “Because I actually think this is something that is going to be very detrimental to his mental health, too. Because he wants to be liked, he wants to be loved, he wants people to cheer for him. I don’t think this is going to be a healthy experience for him.” 

In 2018, Stern revealed he was upset that the former Apprentice star never called him for advice while in office and revealed what he would say to him. “My advice would be, like, get the f–k out of there, man,” he retorted. “[What] do you need that for? Go back to Mar-a-Lago and hang.” 

Following the 2020 election, Stern has continued to speak negatively about Trump on his SiriusXM show and even threw out the idea of running for president himself in 2022. 

In January 2023, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to take a dig at his old pal. “I have been noticing the fact that Howard Stern's show has gone to Hell, and so few people are listening — Used to be great, now it rates less than fair. It's a sad thing to watch,” the former reality star wrote. “When he loved ‘Trump,’ it was ‘hot,’ when he decided to go with Crooked Hillary, his ratings world collapsed. Can't believe they pay him so much money, but I hope he gets it!”