So True? So False? Is Howard Stern Really Responsible for Bootlegging Super 8?!

Shock jock is feeling the heat after incriminating evidence seems to pinpoint him as the culprit behind the film's bootleg bonanza. But is he really to blame?

By Gina Serpe Aug 09, 2011 6:00 PMTags
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The evidence is out there. And it's pretty damn incriminating. And this is Howard Stern we're talking about.

But did he really allow his screener of Super 8 to get leaked online?

That's the unstoppable rumor that's been making the rounds this week after a particularly high quality of the J.J. Abrams film began popping up on file sharing sites bearing the rather prominent watermark "H. Stern."

Two and two quickly added up to a nightmare for the Sirius shock jock, and it wasn't long before the hashtag "#nomorescreenersforhowie" began surfacing on Twitter. But is it true? Is Howard really responsible for the bootleg bonanza? Don't cancel that Netflix subscription just yet, because this rumor is…

So false!

Stern took to the airwaves yesterday morning to clear the air (and his good name) on the question of piracy, denying any responsibility whatsoever for the online leak that had been traced back to his show.

"I hate to have my name associated with anything like this," he said. "I'm so paranoid about it that I literally watch [the screeners], I put it back in my bag and I take it [back].

"Nobody gets it. Nobody can see. I bring it right back…I don't pass it around to anyone. Ever."

Stern added that he was worried that the rumor had gotten so much pickup that his purported tie to the leak may cause Paramount and other movie studios to stop sending him the DVDs.

As for that seeming watermark tip-off that blasts "H. Stern" onto the corner of the screen for the duration of the movie? Well, Howard's guilty of a lot of things, but leaking his screener apparently isn't one of them. So cast those accusatory eyes elsewhere.

It's not like it's a particularly uncommon initial-surname combo, after all.