Radio shock jock Howard Stern sounded off on former Fox News anchor Chris Wallace’s decision to leave the network for a new streaming service offered by CNN called CNN+.
According to a report from Mediaite, Stern said on his Monday episode of “The Howard Stern Show” he had always liked Wallace but had reservations about the move being good for Wallace’s broadcast career.
“I always thought he was a level-headed guy. The guy actually pulled it off. I used to watch him on Fox News and go, ‘How does he put up with this sh*t?’” Stern said.
But, he added: “I gotta tell ya: people don’t watch CNN, who the hell is going to pay for CNN+? Are they out of their mind? CNN+, I mean what is that? Regular CNN isn’t enough?”
“Good luck being seen on that thing,” Stern noted further, predicting that he didn’t believe that very many people would buy a monthly subscription for the opportunity to watch an extension of CNN’s network, Wallace or no Wallace.
“I mean, I like Chris Wallace, but I’m not paying a monthly service fee,” the multimillionaire said.
The shock jock then posited that Wallace might have chosen CNN because they made him a better offer.
“He was on Fox News for 18 years, I’m sure they’re pissed because they were pretty loyal to him. They probably weren’t coming up with the dough re mi,” he said.
“I mean, they probably offered him some good money,” Stern said before suggesting that Wallace was looking for a more relaxed work environment.
“Maybe he said to himself, ‘They just had Jeffrey Toobin jerking off on a zoom meeting, and they didn’t really fire him, so that’s probably a good place to work. You can jerk off on your zoom and not get fired.’ I think he saw an opportunity,” Stern said.