Howard Stern Claims Regis Philbin Was Forced Off 'Live' Because 'He Got Old'

Howard Stern has claimed funnyman Regis Philbin was forced off his own talk show in 2011 due to old age.

Stern, 64, was interviewing late night host Jimmy Kimmel on The Howard Stern Show when he discussed running into Philbin, 87, in his New York City building.

"He lives in my building, but I haven't seen him in a while," Stern said during the Oct. 15 broadcast. "I felt bad looking at him, because he doesn't have a show. And the only reason he doesn't have a show is because he got old. You know what I mean?"

Kimmel agreed: "Yeah because he loved doing that show. He would never retire."

The Shock Jock then claimed the ABC network tried to hide the fact they wanted Philbin gone from the popular program he anchored for years with Kelly Ripa.

I don't care how many press releases Disney or ABC put out, but he definitely aged out. No one wants to talk about that," Stern told Kimmel. "And they pushed him out of the tribe. It was his show!"

"Yes it was his show," Kimmel replied. "It will happen to all of us."

Despite the fact Philbin retired from show business seven years ago, Stern said anytime he would talk to someone he still put on a performance.

"When I ran into him, he was kind of doing his own show for me," Stern explained. "But Regis said to me: 'Howard I never really listened to your show before. But I was driving in my car for three hours and I started listening. I'm hooked now. I get it. It's funny. I didn't know."

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Philbin was a possible contender to replace Hoda Kotb as the next co host of The Today Show, but the behind-the-scenes plan never panned out.

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