He's Not Gonna Take It Anymore! Dee Snider Joins Chorus Of Ex-Howard Stern Pals Shocked Over Radio Icon's Flimsy Friendship — Apologizes Over Source Of Friction That Ended 30-Year Relationship

The hits keep coming for Howard Stern, as more former friends and colleagues are publicly speaking out about the drastic changes the King Of All Media's made in both his professional and personal life in recent years.

The latest in this evolving story features remarks by the radio icon's one-time confidante Dee Snider, coming on the heels of similar sentiments from Stern Show legends Artie Lange, "Stuttering" John Melendez and Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling.

Snider, the former lead singer of '80s metal band Twisted Sister, opened up on his podcast, Snider Comments With Dee Snider, about how his tight-knit friendship with Stern unraveled with the radio star's rise to A-list fame, and the rocky path that he regrets distanced him from the man he called an inspiration in his rebirth as an on-air personality.

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"Those who are Howard Stern fans know that at one time, Howard and I were very close. And even though he doesn't speak of our friendship falling apart, it has, and it doesn't exist anymore," the multi-platinum singer, 60, said. "And that's the thing about Howard, when he's mad at you he talks about you on the air -- when he's really mad at you, it's like you don't exist."

Fast Friends

Snider said his path first crossed with Stern's when he was "on top of the world" in his music career in 1985, a timeframe in which the King of All Media had established himself as one of New York City's top radio presences on WNBC. He said that after Stern jabbed at him on the air, he confronted him lightheartedly about it and the two became fast friends, based on their common bonds: both were Long Island-based family men around the same age, neither preferring the partying lifestyle. Snider took credit for giving Stern the first of many rock and roll makeovers, during a timeframe in which Stern "still looked like an accountant." While thriving as an on-air guest, Snider's career as the frontman of Twister Sister started "taking a nosedive" -- a fall accelerated by the PMRC controversy  of the mid-80s -- and he fell "dramatically" and "tragically," resulting in his first bankruptcy.

Untwisting Things

Snider's professional life was in disarray, but Stern remained a loyal friend, helping guide the singer toward a career as an on-air personality. With Snider's bold voice and likable, charismatic personality evident during his in-studio appearances, Stern hooked Snider up with industry contacts that would be key in helping the rocker reinvent himself as a radio host. "At this point in the late 80s, I'm being written off by everybody, and I've got this one stalwart friend who is passionately campaigning for me." Snider said Stern scoffed at the notion of limiting his airtime due to his dwindling fame, telling the reeling singer, "It's not about who you are, it's what you are," and that he'd "rather have somebody interesting on the air than someone boring and famous."

Snider's career in radio continued to grow, and he found himself with a six-figure offer to host a morning radio show in Hartford, Conn. The catch: He would have to compete against Stern. "So immediately, red flag! I'd be going up against Howard in the morning, so I call Howard and I say, 'Howard listen, I got offered a show but it's in Connecticut doing mornings.' He said, 'Dee, you got to do what you got to do' -- those were his words," Snider recalled. Trying to accept the life-changing offer -- and stay friendly with his radio mentor -- Snider offered Stern a 10 percent cut of his salary, but the shock jock refused. "He said, 'Dee, I don't want your money, I don't need your money, I'm happy to do it for you man." Not too happy, however, as he cut off Snider for a second time. "Howard stops talking to me; I don't know why he stops talking to me," Snider said. "On my radio show, on my first day in the market, I say, 'I am a Howard Stern fan, everything I know about doing morning radio I learned from Howard Stern, if I lived in this market I wouldn't listen to me, I'd listen to Howard Stern' -- this is what I literally say." (Stern, years later in 2006, eventually admitted he was upset with Snider over his decision to compete against him, conceding that while he gave Snider his blessing to take the gig, he felt his one-time friend "should have just known better" than to ask.)

Snider said that while he didn't show any outward emotion at the snub, he realizes in retrospect, it upset him on some level. "I will say now that I realize subconsciously that I was upset ... it hurt me a little bit," he said. "I said on the surface that it didn't, but it must've." The lingering hard feelings triggered a chain of events that resulted in their final parting, after Snider gave an interview to Chaunce Hayden, the East Coast writer who was a regular guest on the radio show until a falling-out amid Stern's move to satellite. Unaware of the bad blood, Snider spoke openly about his relationship with the Private Parts star. "I sing Howard's praises like I'm doing right now -- how much I love the guy, how much he's meant to my career, how he's one of the few people that stood by me through thick and thin," he said in the interview, which took place as feelings were raw, just weeks after the wedding.

When asked by Hayden if he was bothered that he wasn't invited, according to Snider, "I said, 'No, we don't know Beth, and we've always been friends with Alison and it's a little weird, and besides, Howard's socializing with people now that he wouldn't have given the time of day to 20 years ago' ... well, that was the headline." While fans of the show lauded the "I Wanna Rock" singer for his bluntness -- "Finally, somebody said it," was the overwhelming feeling, Snider said -- Stern was not amused. "Howard sends me a terse email telling me how f**ked up I am for saying something like that, and you know what, it was wrong; flat out wrong, I shouldn't have done it, I shouldn't have said it, it was not cool to say," Snider said, adding that he made multiple efforts to repair things with Stern after the seemingly-innocuous observation. "He sends me a terse email telling me off, I immediately pick up the phone to call him -- because email's for pu**ies -- he won't answer the phone. I sent him emails, he won't answer the emails, he won't respond. And again if he's really mad at you, it's like you don't exist."

At that point, the earnest entertainer launched into an emotional apology for blindsiding his old friend in regards to his comments in the Stepping Out interview. "Sorry Howard for saying those words, they were wrong, they were unfair," Snider said. "The two of us came up together, and the truth be told, if I stayed on the same trajectory as you, we would be connected," Snider said. "Our career paths changed, you continued on, you went one way, I went another way, it was wrong for me to say those words in any medium and it breaks my heart that a person who stood by me through it all, that I hurt that way." He continued, "So he'll never hear these words, he'll never listen, he'll never reach out, he'll never acknowledge, he won't allow me to acknowledge, but I owe that man a lot. Alright, I told the story."

Snider Comments With Dee Snider can be found on PodcastOne. Live editions of the Howard Stern Show air Mondays thru Wednesdays on SiriusXM.