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As a college junior in the early 1990s Steven Grillo dreamed about landing an internship on Howard Stern’s radio show.But once he did the dream quickly became a nightmare — with him being egged into humiliating himself, but giving him an irresistible taste of fame.Grillo says he never wanted to be on the air and took the job with the intention of working behind the scenes.However, he says Stern unexpectedly prayed on him, despite being a dyslexic college kid.“The place was a snake-pit; you never knew when you were going to be set up,” Grillo told The Post.“I was always a nervous wreck and it got worse when they brought me on the show.“I’d have Robin [Quivers, co-host] cackling in my ear; somebody would be throwing balls of paper in my face … Then I would have Howard staring at me, with his piercing blue eyes darting all over the place, trying to make me look worse than I already did.”Shock jock Stern was a different person back when Grillo, now 58, worked for him in the 90s on New York’s WXRK station.Pre-woke, decades before he did softball interviews with Joe Biden, Stern’s politics leaned Republican.“He definitely got George Pataki elected Governor [of New York in 1995] and he was a big [Rudy] Giuliani supporter,” said Grillo.
“It’s gross to see what he’s turned into.I think it’s quite pathetic, to be honest.”Grillo is referring to Stern’s 180 in terms of his political standing, “At some point, his brain flipped,” he said.
“I think it has to do with the people he associates with.He’s in the [left wing] herd, and he doesn’t want to upset them.
Now he’s friends with all these A-listers, people like Jimmy Kimmel.If he goes up against them, he’s going to get kicked out of the club.
He used to make fun of all those celebrities,” who Grillo counts as fair game due to their public profiles.Ironically, one person Stern did not mind going up against was Donald Trump.“Trump and Howard were friends, they talked all...