Bruce on Howard Stern

I’ve gone onto the fan forums and the Howard Stern subreddit. They are packed with supposed superfans who hate the new Howard. They want the show back to the way it used to be with porn stars and strippers. I wouldn’t go on the Reddit. You read that stuff as a performer, you will be stuck doing your greatest hits. I have a thin skin, so I don’t read it. But I know the rap with me. It’s like, “Wow, where’s the women squirting in Gary’s face?” “How come Howard isn’t taking rectal temperatures anymore?” We’re doing some of that, but as a human being it would be downright fucking creepy if I stayed the same. I’m no longer a 30-year-old man. I’ve changed. So there is no fucking way I can hold on.

I’ve learned something in therapy. You can’t have 100 percent of the audience. I was under the delusion that I could pull that off. Literally, I used to get insulted when I’d see the ratings say one out of every four cars on Long Island riding into Manhattan, they’re listening to you. I’d go, “What about the other three?” It’s this hungry search for love, attention. You’re looking for love in all the wrong places. The guy who says to me, “Hey, man. You suck now. You were only good when Jackie was on the show.” I go, “Well, to you, maybe. But I like the show much better now.” That’s all you can do if you’re going to grow and evolve. But I kind of laugh at that whole attitude, like, “Hey, man. He changed.” Thank God I fucking changed.