Howard Stern’s Prank Made A Beloved Celebrity Want To Take Their Own Life

Howard Stern has enjoyed a lengthy radio career that made him extremely wealthy for a few different reasons. One reason is that Howard has been open about things like being furious when his speech was cut and another is that he goes on rants, like he did when he was called predictable. Another key to Howard's success is his relationships with celebrities, including some he has defended despite feuding with them and famous people who've become his friends.

While Howard has gotten Donald Trump to talk about his prenup and Matt Lauer to admit his celebrity crush, some of his celebrity interactions have gone wrong. One example of that is the time Howard pulled a prank on a beloved star that made them want to take their own life.

Howard Stern's Prank Made Howie Mandel Want To Harm Himself

During America's Got Talents 7th through 10th seasons, fans saw Howard Stern and Howie Mandel judge the show together. With that fact in mind, it is amazing to consider the extremely fraught history the two men share.

For a long time, Howard was the most famous "shock jock" in the world. During that time, Howard and his crew would often pull pranks that would expose celebrities in some way. During one of those pranks, Howie had a secret exposed to Howard's millions of listeners.

Years later, Howie revealed how severely that prank affected him at the time. In fact, Howie revealed that he was so devastated by Howard's prank that he wanted to harm himself in the immediate aftermath.

In June 2023, Howie was interviewed by Neal Brennan, as can be seen in a YouTube clip.

The following two paragraphs involve the specific discussion of someone wanting to commit an act of self-harm.

While talking about the prank that was pulled on him and the aftermath, Howie described how being exposed made him want to take his own life.

I'll go downstairs. It's New York, and I'll just run into the traffic. I've never felt more dark and more alone than in that moment.

During the same conversation, Howie described the prank that was pulled on him and why it made him so upset.

As an October 2023 Today article details, Howie was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. During the aforementioned conversation with Neal, Howie explained that he initially kept his diagnosis a secret for fear of how he'd be judged.

In July 2012, Us Weekly published an article about Howard Stern and Howie Mandel feuding on-camera during an episode of America's Got Talent. As that article revealed, Howard criticized Howie for being too nice to people who were auditioning because the radio show host thought were bad performers.

As Howie explained, another one of Howard's guests who was there at the same time touched the doorknob with their dirty hand. As a result, Howie didn't want to touch the doorknob to leave, and he tried to find ways to exit without doing so. However, Howie went on to explain that members of Howard's crew refused to let him leave without touching the doorknob.

"I said, 'Can somebody open the door? I don't wanna touch the door...' They go, 'Open the door.' I go, 'No.' I went to grab some tissue to open the door with the tissue. They knocked that out of my hand. I went to open it with my shirt. Somebody knocked it."

Based on Howie's description of the scene up until this point, Howard could have been uninvolved in the prank. However, Howie went on to make it clear that, at the very least, he believed that Howard was the source of the prank.

Howard Stern has a long history of featuring pranks on his popular radio show. In fact, there have been so many memorable pranks pulled on "The Howard Stern Show" that Ranker published an article listing some of the best.

While describing the scene during the aforementioned interview, Howie explained that he turned to Howard to ask for help while explaining how much the prank was upsetting him.

"I started to hyperventilate, and I was having an anxiety attack. And I said to Howard, 'This is funny. I get it. You know? I get it. But I'll be totally honest with you. I've been to a psychiatrist, and I've been diagnosed with something called obsessive compulsive disorder. And I take medication, and I'm about to pass out. So if you don't open the door for me, then somebody should call 911 because I can't. I'm this close to not being conscious.'"

It is easy to imagine how upset Howie must have been at that moment to be so vulnerable to a shock jock.

During the interview, Howie stated that Howard relented, apologized, and let him leave after his confession.

He said sorry and he opened the door.

However, as soon as he left the room he'd been stuck in, Howie learned that millions of people heard his confession. "I walked out in the hall, and I realized I heard in the speakers in the hall, they were still broadcasting. I thought we were in a commercial break."

During the aforementioned interview, Howie revealed that at that time, the only person who knew about his OCD diagnosis was his wife. Howie also described his reaction to learning his secret was out and why he became so despondent that he wanted to harm himself.

"My heart f****** dropped into my stomach, and I was beside myself... I thought, oh my god. This just got nationally broadcast. So this is the end. This is the end. I never felt like the end of the f****** world. And for many reasons, first, this is getting broadcast nationally, so my whole family is hearing it. My kids are of school age.

They're gonna have to go to school the next day, and everybody's gonna know that their father is a mental case, which is a big piece of news, number one. And so everybody I love is going to be humiliated aside from me. Now that I've kinda said that I'm on medication and I go to a psychiatrist, who's ever gonna hire me? You know, when you do television shows and movies, you always have a doctor come and give you a physical beforehand, and now I've kinda let it out of the bed. That's even worse.

I have mental health issues. Why would you hire me? Why would you put me in million-dollar production if I could flip out at any moment?"

A Complete Stranger Saved Howie Mandel's Life After Howard Stern's Prank

When Howie Mandel was interviewed by Neal Brennan, he revealed a truth that some people don't consider enough. Howie revealed that sometimes a moment of humanity from a stranger can make a huge difference in someone's life. Howie did that by explaining how a stranger saved his life after the Howard Stern prank that rocked him.

During the interview, Howie described that as he left the building after Howard Stern's prank, a stranger sought him out.

"Some guy comes into my periphery. I didn't turn my head, and he goes, 'Are you Howie Mandel?' And I said, 'Yeah.' And he said, 'Were you just on Howard Stern?' And I went, 'Yeah.'"

At that moment of sorrow for Howie, that stranger let the popular comedian know that he wasn't alone. During the interview, Howie explained how that person reaching out to him changed and saved his life.

"He goes, 'Me too.' And I went, 'What does that mean? And he goes, 'I have issues too. You were talking about the same thing I have. Thank you.' I said, 'Thank you for what?' He goes, 'I suffer from this too. And it was the first time it was like, somebody threw me a life preserver.' I go, 'Really? It's not just me. It's you?' There was a stranger, and that was like this weight got lifted off my f****** shoulder."

It is fascinating to wonder if that stranger knows what their act of humanity did for Howie.