Justin Lubin/NBC, Jamie McCarthy/WireImageIs the self-proclaimed King of All Media hogging the spotlight on America's Got Talent?
With Howard Stern assuming his perch on the judging panel for the upcoming season of NBC's America's Got Talent and traveling around the country in recent weeks as part of the show's audition process, word has surfaced that Howie Mandel is unhappy the shock jock has been soaking up the adulation at the expense of he and Sharon Osbourne.
Well, E! News has done some digging and can definitely say this rumor is…
So false!
The story, which first appeared in the New York Post, claimed Stern's devoted fanbase has turned out in such force during stops in Austin, St. Louis, San Francisco and Los Angeles that Howie has started complaining.
"Howie is getting jealous because Howard is getting the loudest applause and all the attention on America's Got Talent," an insider told the paper.
The Post went on to state that show staffers in San Francisco overheard Mandel bitching about Stern. The paper also quoted a fan in Austin as saying the radio man's rabid fans turned up with signs of Howard's catchphrases and greeted "like the Beatles."
But Mandel through his publicist, tells E! News, the report is 100 percent fabricated.
"I love Howard, and his fans are phenomenal," the comedian says. "The only real negative about working with him is that my wife now yells ‘baba booey' in bed during sex."
NBC also released a statement to E! News smacking down the rumor.
"There's no truth to this story," said a network rep. "The judges are all good friends and are very supportive of each other."
Well, that settles that.
So Stern can continue his New York-based SiriusXM radio show, America's Got Talent will move to the Big Apple this summer for its seventh season.
(E! and America's Got Talent are part of the NBCUniversal family.)