Howard Stern, George Clooney, Ricky Gervais Among First Guests on CNN’s 'Piers Morgan Tonight'
10:51 AM 1/10/2011
by Georg Szalai
The Hollywood Reporter



NEW YORK - Piers Morgan's first week of guests on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight will include George Clooney, Howard Stern and Ricky Gervais, the network said Monday.

Stern will appear Tuesday, Gervais Thursday, and Clooney on Friday. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will also join CNN's new primetime host during his first week on the air on Wednesday of next week. It previously became known that Oprah Winfrey would be Morgan’s first guest on Monday.

Guests confirmed for following weeks include more celebrities and political names. They include Kid Rock, Rod Stewart, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Donald and Melania Trump.

Morgan is taking over the nightly 9pm spot previously held by Larry King.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/howard-stern-george-clooney-ricky-69868

Howard Stern: I Almost Retired Last Year

January 19, 2011

Howard Stern sat down with Piers Morgan for the second episode of Morgan's new CNN talk show, revealing that he was close to walking away from radio last year. Stern said that he felt he'd already accomplished everything in the business and asked himself, "Really, why am I doing this anymore? It makes me crazy. I hate getting up early in the morning, and I don't particularly like doing the show." However, he said that he is "driven by a neurotic compulsion" to do his Sirius XM show.

Stern added, "I think [doing the show is] my identity...Like, this is who I am. This is what I do."

He also spoke about his drive to please his father in his career, and how he was "rocked" when his father called him a "genius" years ago. Stern said the compliment came after the release of the film Private Parts and other accomplishments in his career.

Stern also took shots at Jay Leno, and praised his friend David Letterman. He said Leno "did a terrible thing to Conan O'Brien" with last year's Tonight Show controversy.

"Jay is insane," Stern told Morgan. "He's not fit to scrub David Letterman's feet. Yes, I don't know why he's beaten David Letterman in the ratings. It's beyond my comprehension. America must be filled with morons who at night lay in bed -- the ones who are watching him. They must be in a coma." Stern is slated to appear on Letterman's Late Show on Thursday, February 3.

Multiple clips from the interview can be seen here.

awkward
Howard Stern Sues Sirius XM


March 22, 2011

Howard Stern, who seems to be in a perpetual fight with his bosses, is at it again.

The production company for the radio personality is suing Sirius XM, claiming the satellite radio company has refused to pay stock awards it owes to him based on subscriber targets in Stern’s contract. The lawsuit also says Sirius owes money to Stern’s agent under a consulting agreement.

“World-renowned radio personality Howard Stem (“Stem”) put Sirius on the map,” the lawsuit says. “But, with the exception of a stock award that Sirius paid for the initial year of Stem’s contract, Sirius has refused to pay One Twelve [the production company for Stern's show] the additional performance-based stock awards to which One Twelve is entitled.”

[url+http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/SternSirius.pdf]CLICK HERE[/url] to read Stern’s lawsuit against Sirius XM.

Remember that Stern jumped from broadcast radio to Sirius in a deal starting in 2006. Stern’s contract had an initial value of $500 million in cash and stock. As his original agreement drew to a close, last year Stern persistently teased listeners about the possibility of leaving Sirius for greener pastures. He eventually
re-signed for undisclosed contract terms.

Stern’s lawsuit says Sirius made the initial stock payment awards tied to the company’s subscriber levels, but stopped paying them after 2007. The lawsuit said Stern and his agent didn’t press the matter “while Sirius was struggling or reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy.”

Last year, according to the lawsuit, an official from Stern’s agency asked a Sirius executive about the stock payments. The executive said Sirius didn’t owe anything.

It’s hard to tell from one side of this contract dispute, but it appears the disagreement centers on whether subscribers from XM, the rival satellite company Sirius absorbed in 2008, count toward the subscriber goals in Stern’s contract.

When Howard signed on to Sirius, did almost every new car come with it installed?

I would think that has more to do with the number of subscribers than Howard - at least after the first couple of years that he was on.

Now, I believe that Howard is a huge reason for KEEPING Sirius...but if they count every car purchased as a new subscription, I think he's off base here.

More Details Emerge On Stern-Sirius Lawsuit

March 23, 2011

Yesterday it was reported that Howard Stern's camp was suing Sirius XM over stock bonuses which were owed to the King Of All Media. More details have now emerged, as the Wall Street Journal has posted a copy of the entire suit online. The suit claims that "with the exception of a stock award that Sirius paid for the initial year of Stem’s contract, Sirius has refused to pay One Twelve (Stern's production company) the additional performance-based stock awards to which One Twelve is entitled."

The suit says Sirius made its initial stock payment tied to the company’s subscriber levels, but stopped paying them after 2007. The lawsuit adds Stern and his agent didn’t press the issue "while Sirius was struggling or reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy." However, in 2010 a representative for Stern asked an executive from the satcaster about the stock payments and was told Sirius didn't owe Stern anything.

The WSJ notes that it is unclear, but the disagreement may revolve around whether XM subscribers added by the Sirius-XM merger count towards the subscriber goals laid out in Stern's contract.

Sirius XM told the WSJ that Stern is a "valued part of our company," and added that the company was "surprised and disappointed" by the legal action. "We have met all of our obligations under the terms of our 2004 agreement with Howard, his agent and production company.

Are they off again this week? Wow, Stern wasn't kidding when he said he got more vacation time this contract.

it seems like he's only worked 3 or 4 weeks this summer, and some of those were 3 day weeks

Yeah, this time off shit is getting ridiculous.

I have to agree..sucks he's taken all these vacations.

They didnt run the promo for this week until Sunday..and..what they are playing is from 2008!

"If I can do it, then I know they don't have talent, Robin"

At first I thought it would be a bad idea, but knowing how much of a fan he is of these terrible shows, it could really work.

i'm quite surprised that he'd go back to NBC, but i guess a dumptruck full of money is a good negotiating tool. even with Stern as a judge i couldn't see myself watching that stupid show but i hope it works out for him.

The people at NBC now are not the people who were at NBC when he was there, not to mention one was radio and this is TV. Do you think he never buys a GE product?

clearly he feels the same way

Shit, GE doesn't even majority own NBC anymore, Comcast does. Not even same owners.

But I think he is mostly ruled by relevancy and money, and this will give him a lot of both.

Its going to be interesting to see him absolutely destroy some of these people and then berate the audience for booing him. He's the new Simon Cowell, and I'm guessing he's not going to pull a single punch.