Here's something everyone can relate to regardless of whether or not they can admit it... our relationship with our parents shape who we are. There's enough psychological research out there that proves that. But it's obvious. We're mammals, of course, we develop based on our interactions with them, especially due to our earliest experiences.
This is something radio legend Howard Stern truly understands thanks to his decades of psychotherapy. Howard blames most of his problems on his experience during puberty... And even though he's one of the richest people in Hollywood, the man is intensely insecure about a few things... mainly one. But after starting to go to therapy to better his relationships and learn to be a happier and less angry person, he claims he's learned just how much his mom and dad affected who he became.
Howard's parents, Ben and Ray Stern, have become staples on SiriusXM's Howard Stern Show. While they used to be regular guests and callers, Howard has spent a great deal more time talking about his time growing up with them... And these stories are usually accompanied by his hilarious impressions of them.
Just recently, Howard expressed a little more detail about his pretty complicated relationship with her father...
Ben Stern Was Distant And Really Didn't Understand What Kids Were Like
During one of Jerry Seinfeld's many appearances on The Howard Stern Show, the Comedians In Cars creator claimed that nobody in his and Howard's parents' generation knew how to connect with kids. Still, Howard really wishes that his father spent time with him and got to know who he was. Instead, Ben Stern was focused on his career in radio, the news, and yelling at his son.
Fans of The Howard Stern Show or Howard blockbuster hit Private Parts know that Ben would often call Howard a "moron" and yell at him to "Shut up!".
The two wouldn't spend much time together one-on-one. In fact, Howard claims that his dad took him to only one sports event at Shea Stadium. He describes it as a "horrible day".
"My father was just livid with me. He hated the experience. I hated it. He loved going to ballgames. He was going since he was a young boy," Howard described.
"And he'd go alone, right?" Howard's longtime co-host and best friend Robin Quivers asked during Howard's recent rant in October 2020.
"He'd go alone. He didn't want me along. And he-ah, came home and complained to my mother that all I did was eat hotdogs and I didn't pay attention to the game. And, by-the-way, I was probably seven or eight."
Howard's father ultimately didn't want his baseball experience to be disturbed and young Howard was overly curious about everything around him...
"He was ready for you to be up to everything. You should've known how to do a score sheet, not to eat all the time..." Robin added.
Howard said that his father missed the concept of how to teach him about the ways of the world and how to experience things. Instead, he just expected Howard to know everything.
"My father wanted me to be born 35 years old and never act like a child. That was his theory of life."
Howard described how he once saw someone on TV say they were a millionaire and this made him want to become one too. This caused Ben to say "You idiot, you don't even have a job. You don't know what it's like. You don't even have a plan to make money."
"I was ten," Howard said. Of course, he didn't have a plan yet.
But Ben Stern's attention to more adult things fueled a lot of Howard's interactions with him. This includes a moment that Ben recorded that Howard has played on his radio show numerous times. It involved Ben interviewing his ten-year-old son about political foreign affairs, the United Nations, and the separation of church and state... In the tape, young Howard struggled to answer the questions and then just started to goof around with it. This is when his dad said, "I told you not to be stupid, you moron."
There Was A Lot Of Anger There
Due to Howard's father growing up in extreme poverty, Howard claims Ben held a lot of anger in him. Everything would piss Ben off... especially when young Howard would tease him.
And this anger was something that was clearly passed down to Howard... and one that Howard has done a lot to correct. Proof of that is how Howard was once known as an inappropriate shock jock... Nowadays, he's known as one of the most intelligent, honest, and interesting interviewers around... who still does hilarious fart and penis humor from time-to-time.
While his therapy was important, Howard's sense of humor about his experience with his father is what allowed him to make peace with it.
Howard loves teasing his father on-air, whether it's his obsession with blueberries and the yogurt store, the fact that he's utterly deaf, how he embarrassed Howard in front of Jim Carrey, and his sex life with Howard's mom. This teasing used to anger Ben when Howard was a kid. But now that Howard is an adult, Ben appears to have developed a sense of humor about it all.
How could he not? Millions of people tune into Howard because he makes them laugh.
Whenever Ben appears on The Howard Stern Show, it seems like the two have a decently positive relationship. Ben even helped Howard with one of his deals with SiriusXM. Now that they are both adults, they've found their commonalities and have mutual respect for their own complicated life experiences.