Howard Stern, who locked himself in a bunker for months during the pandemic, revealed on Monday that he paused his SiriusXM show after contracting the coronavirus for the first time.

“See if we can get through this show. We were supposed to be back last week. We weren’t,” Stern said. “Because I got COVID-19.”

The 69-year-old Stern told his audience, most of whom contracted the virus at some point (if not, several times), that the disease is “really bad.”

“I just want to announce something. COVID is really bad,” he said. “You do not want COVID. Oh f–k.”

“Man, I went through hell … I’ve really never been this sick,” he added.

Stern further praised the vaccine.

“What a wallop this thing is — can you imagine if we didn’t have the vaccine?”

To illustrate the intense paranoia that Stern has expressed over the coronavirus since 2020, the famed shock jock revealed that he had an argument with his wife – in 2023! — about going out to visit friends.

“I’m going crazy with this. My wife yelled at me last night. We got into a fight,” he said. “You know how paranoid I am about getting COVID. I haven’t gotten it, and I’m pretty safe, and I really don’t want to get it.”

Stern feared that he would be one of the coronavirus cases who end up in the hospital or worse.

Everyone goes, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just a cold for me.’ It’ll probably be way worse. You know what I mean? I mean, I’m the lucky one who will completely fall apart,” he said.

Stern discussed how the age difference between him and his wife (he’s 69; she’s 51) causes a strain when coronavirus pops up.

“You know, my wife’s considerably younger than me, as you might have heard. And you know, she’s not as concerned about getting COVID as I am, because, you know, I’m an older dude,” he said.

“Beth has a bunch of plans. She has like a wedding shower to go to and lunch to go to with a friend and a dinner and a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So, you know, we’re really making an effort. We go out to restaurants. We went to the Ed Sheeran concert. We’ve really been out there. I haven’t gotten COVID. And I’m like, you know what? If I get it, I get it,” he added. “Then all of a sudden they announce there’s a new strain of COVID and it’s on the rise. And, you know, people are being hospitalized. ‘It’s time to go back down into lockdown.’ And I’m like, you mean I’m just emerging, and now I’m going back into lockdown!”

 

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.