Howard Stern Teases E!'s Nina Parker After Her Awards Coverage Forces Him to Learn a New Word

By Ryan Gajewski Mar 04, 2021 4:55 PMTags

Howard Stern is done learning new slang terms, and he doesn't want E!'s awards coverage to make him expand his vocabulary. 

The legendary radio personality told his audience this week that he watched Live From E!: Countdown to the Golden Globes prior to the awards ceremony on Feb. 28. But the one thing he found hard to swallow was hosts Nina Parker, Sarah Hyland and Brad Goreski's use of the word "tea," which—as probably every human but Howard already knows—is a conversational term popular on social media and in memes, and is synonymous with "gossip." 

"They kept saying the word 'tea,'" a befuddled Howard told Robin Quivers on his SiriusXM show. "This was obnoxious. I'd never heard this expression before, but I'm told it's a real expression. Instead of saying the word 'gossip,' they said 'tea,' and it annoys me. I put together a montage for you—see if it annoys you."

Before he played the montage, Howard wasn't quite done venting about the frustration that was brewing. 

"Why can't they say the word 'gossip'?" he continued. "Why are they saying 'tea'? I don't like it."

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Frankly, we're a bit stunned that someone as familiar with pop culture as Howard is, not to mention what a gossip savant he is, has somehow managed to avoid this use of the word. After all, there's even an entire article on Merriam-Webster's website dedicated to its origins! But we digress. 

For her part, Nina addressed his remarks while hosting E!'s Nightly Pop on Wednesday, March 3. And she admitted that the Howard Stern Comes Again author, well, might indeed be on to something. 

"All right, he has a f--king point," she quipped. "I don't know what to say." She then added, "Listen, let me tell you something—Howard Stern mentioned my mother-f--king name. I'm on cloud nine!"

Rich Polk/Getty Images, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

The fashion stylist went on to reveal Howard was an inspiration during her formative years and inspired her to remain true to herself as she pursued a media career.

"I actually love Howard Stern, and my dad bought his book when I was a kid," she said, sharing that Private Parts was indeed one of the first books she read about broadcasting. "Honestly, Howard Stern is one of the reasons why I'm so vocal on air."

She concluded with, "Howard could say whatever he wanna say about me."

And that, as we're sure Howard will now start saying regularly, is the real tea.