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Howard Stern is well known for being a germaphobe and possessing an unreasonable fear of COVID. He’s been broadcasting from home since March 2020.
“For the first time in two years, I ventured out of the house,” Stern explained. He ate at an Israeli restaurant called Laser Wolf in Williamsburg with a host of stars.
Stern’s friends included Jennifer Aniston, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Hamm, Justin Theroux, and Jason Bateman.
A source at the dinner said, “Howard was there without even a mask. They all sat at a large table.”
“Howard was seated next to Jimmy and also, at one point, seemed to be in deep conversation with Jon Hamm,” the source said. “Stern told restaurant staff this was his first night out since the pandemic’s start.”
“I really had an exhausting weekend, emotionally, physically,” Stern said on his radio show. “For the first time in two years, I ventured out of the house.”
He continued, “It was too much for me. It was too much. I haven’t been out in two years.”
Stern explained that Kimmel invited him and his wife, Beth Ostrosky, to the outing.
“I said to my wife, ‘I don’t want to go, I’m in a panic, I don’t want to get COVID,'” Stern said.
Stern continued, “I know our president has told us the pandemic is over and everyone is walking around without masks. I still just don’t want to get COVID.”
Stern said that he is “super paranoid about diseases and germs.”
Stern continued, “I’ve been locked up so long, and I haven’t gotten COVID. I’m afraid I’ll be the one a–hole who gets COVID, and I’ll die. Even though people don’t seem to be dying that much [anymore].”
More on this story via Page Six:
The iconic shock jock riled some fans when he didn’t go back to his New York City SiriusXM studio when it was declared safe and instead chose to continue broadcasting remotely.
While he has been seen taking occasional walks in the Hamptons since COVID regulations have loosened, Stern and his wife have otherwise rarely ventured out, preferring to stay at home with their cats.
“This is my dream,” the radio host told Kimmel, adding that he’s “happiest” when home with his wife.
Kimmel, meanwhile, has been trying to coax the famed hermit out of the house. He said, “We’re worried that we’re going to lose you from society because the longer this goes on, the more comfortable you get in that little world. And then it’s harder and harder to get out of it … it’s unhealthy.”
“F–k it, I’m being a p—y, I know,” Stern admitted, claiming he would eventually start venturing out for dinners with friends.