Leslie Kuhn has also accused the shock jock and his wife, Beth, of engaging in “questionable business operations.”

Howard Stern’s ex-assistant seeks ‘right to speak freely’ via lawsuit, with $2.5 million valuation

Leslie Kuhn has also accused the shock jock and his wife, Beth, of engaging in "questionable business operations."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

EW's editorial guidelines

on April 14, 2026 8:40 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Howard Stern at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. Credit:

Kevin Kane/Getty

- A former executive assistant to Howard Stern and his wife is seeking to void a confidentiality agreement and NDA in a lawsuit.

- Leslie Kuhn previously accused the Sterns of creating a hostile work environment and engaging in "questionable business operations."

- The Sterns have yet to publicly address the lawsuit.

Last week, Leslie Kuhn, who previously worked as an executive assistant for Howard Stern and his wife, Beth Stern, sued the couple to void or declare unenforceable a confidentiality agreement and a non-disclosure agreement she signed as part of her four-year tenure, during which she additionally alleged that they created a hostile work environment and engaged in "questionable business operations."

In an amended complaint filed with the Supreme Court of New York on Sunday and reviewed by **, Kuhn requested both that the court assign a judge to the case and grant a preliminary conference. Because cases assigned to Commercial Division require that a declaratory judgment claim identify an intended benefit — whether through protection afforded or injury averted — with a value of at least $500,000, the amended complaint places a value in an amount "not less than $2.5 million.”

Howard Stern and wife Beth sued, former assistant claims they created a hostile work environment and 'questionable business operations'

Paramount sued by former executive, who alleges he was fired for being white and in his 50s

The crux of Kuhn's initial complaint was her obligation to silence on the Stern matter due to the confidentiality agreement and NDA. Kuhn entered into the former with Howard around May 2022, and into the latter with the couple around May 2025, a year after she moved into the Sterns' residence in Southampton, N.Y., to serve in the additional role of house manager.

It was there that Kuhn claimed in the initial complaint that she began to encounter problems, ultimately leading to her termination in 2026. Though she was allegedly terminated "for cause," the complaint contends it was the "enablement of that hostile work environment," in large part due to the "immense pressures" placed on her by Beth's Furry Friends, Beth's animal rescue organization. The complaint described that organization as "massively disorganized" and as employing "questionable business operations and accounting practices."

Kuhn does not seek compensatory damages in the amended complaint, but pursues the original course of requesting that the agreements be declared "void" and "unenforceable."

"Through this action the Plaintiff seeks to protect her right to speak freely," the amended complaint reads.

Howard Stern and Beth Stern in 2025.

Kevin Mazur/Getty

The amended complaint notes that the Sterns have not yet responded to the suit, as their response deadline has not yet lapsed. The couple has still not spoken publicly about the suit either.

* *has reached out to representatives for the Sterns, Beth's Furry Friends, SiriusXM, which carries *The Howard Stern Show*, and an attorney for Kuhn for comment.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

Howard, 72, married Beth Ostrosky, 53, in 2008 after several years of dating. Though the couple has not welcomed any children, they have been proud rescue cat owners for years, leading to Beth founding Beth's Furry Friends, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that works to foster, rehabilitate, and re-home cats, in 2015.

*With reporting by Oliver Gettell.*

[*Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Kuhn was seeking $2.5 million in damages.*]

- Celebrities & Creators

- Celebrity Lawsuits & Legal Troubles

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Celebrity”