Howard Stern Hates Les Moonves

WOW!

Money talks!



CBS was willing to let Howard Stern vent about his problems with the network on David Letterman's show.

Stern was wearing an "I hate Les Moonves" t-shirt, and he said that he was on his "I hate Les Moonves" tour.

Stern kept calling Moonves a jerk and blamed him for stressing him out so badly that he needed plastic surgery to undo the damage.

Letterman made it clear that he had no problem with boss Moonves, using some agile CYA moves. Still, Letterman basically let Stern have free rein to rip away at Moonves.

Stern says the lawsuit is a classic example of someone talking out of both sides of his mouth.

In the suit, CBS accuses Stern of having a secret deal with Sirius. That, of course, is ridiculous. Stern talked about his move to satellite radio for fourteen months. The only restriction stipulated by CBS was that he not name the network. According to Stern, there were no secrets, no secret payments, nothing.

Stern claims it's a "vicious, frivolous lawsuit."

Speaking of viciousness, Stern didn't hold back. He said that Moonves destroyed CBS, took $57,000,000, and is screwing the stockholders. Stern insists that he won't be bullied by Moonves.

Stern said he is an honest man, and it's troubling that the corporation is besmirching his name.

So why did CBS agree to this bloodbath?

RATINGS!!!

In a way, I'm surprised that Stern agreed to do it.

Yes, he had the pleasure of shredding CEO Moonves on CBS. BUT, Stern helped Moonves by boosting the network's ratings.

Maybe Stern couldn't pass up the opportunity to assault the guy on his own network. Maybe Stern thought of the appearance as doing Letterman a favor. However, if that's the case, he can't help out Letterman without helping Moonves.

I think in the end it's all about money. Moonves must love money. He was willing to be flagellated by Stern for ratings.

Talking about countersuing, Stern said, "I would love to drain the blood out of Leslie."

I do think Stern is sincere about wanting to defend his honor. That seemed clear. In spite of that sincerity, Stern does seem to be enjoying all the publicity being generated by the suit. There's no question that he has exploited it to his benefit.

I also think it's clear that CBS will do anything for ratings.

I guess everyone wins -- Moonves, Stern, and the lawyers.