Don Buchwald — the iconic super-agent who started his own firm and who’s repped tons of stars, including Howard Stern — has died … TMZ has learned.
The longtime Hollywood power player’s agency confirmed the sad news — explaining he passed Monday at his Massachusetts home surrounded by loved ones. We’re told he died of natural causes.
Don formed his bi-coastal agency Buchwald with five associates in 1977 — and over the years, he built it into a leader for Hollywood representation … in the areas of commercial, broadcast, film, theater, television, literary and emerging talent.Among the current list of agency clients … Jason Priestley, Jean Smart, Robert Patrick, Keith David, Jason Lee, Holt McCallany, Natasha Henstridge, Dominic Monaghan and Michael Rosenbaum.
Of course, his biggest client was Stern. DB repped Howard personally, while also acting as his manager and publicist. HS was Don’s single personally handled client … and Howard referred to “superagent Don Buchwald” over the years on the radio.And for Howard … Don was super … as he helped to land the radio personality with an eye-popping contract worth an estimated $90 million a year at SiriusXM!!
Don may have been surrounded by celebs every day … but he had no interest in being in the spotlight … telling the New York Times in 2018, “I’m not a particularly boastful person.” Meaning, it was all about the business and not so much about the show.He was 88.
Howard Sternhas weighed in on the “Hawk Tuah” girl — and surprisingly … he’s kinda clutching his pearls over it on behalf of dads everywhere.The legendary radio talk show host — who became famous as a shock jock — talked about the viral sensation — a young woman whose clip about performing fellatio has drawn eyeballs far and wide — and he sounds very much like a concerned parent here.
Check it out … HS says the appeal of this gal — who’s been ID’d as Haliey Welch — is that she’s so uninhibited … but then, he explains why this is every father’s worst nightmare.
As a dad of 3 daughters himself … Howard says this is the last thing a papa wants to hear about his kid — namely, a NSFW description of sex tactics. Howard’s not actually outraged here — he’s more so joking — but it’s funny to hear him talk like this (somewhat appalled).
When it comes to Haliey — she’s since capitalized on her internet fame. The Nashville resident is now selling official “Hawk Tuah” merch, partnering with Fathead Threads. They’ve collab’d on a number of hats, with all the captions and phrases you can imagine.
Fans have offered up mixed reactions online to Haliey’s new business endeavor … some praising her for cashing in on her 15 minutes, while others expressed similar sentiments to Howard’s — calling her moment in the spotlight embarrassing.To each their own … but she’s polishing up her profile to ride the wave, it seems.
HOWARD STERN JERRY SEINFELD’S COMEDY CRITIQUE… No Big Deal, Buddy!!!
Howard Stern is finally weighing in on Jerry Seinfeld putting his comedy skills on blast by saying he isn’t actually very funny — and according to him, it’s all water under a bridge.The radio legend says he was genuinely shocked and confused by Jerry’s POV when he first read the headline — especially considering they were really good friends — but when Jerry called to apologize … Howard says he was totally ready to forgive him.
Speaking on “The Howard Stern Show,” he says … “I read it [Jerry’s comments], and I went, ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ because Jerry is a personal friend of ours. Especially his wife, Jessica [Seinfeld], is really good friends with Beth [Stern].”
HS adds that when Jerry called to explain his comments came out wrong, he told him he didn’t really care about it at all, everything was A-OK, and his remorse wasn’t needed. But since he relentlessly kept apologizing, he accepted it.
In fact, JS was so torn up about it that he wanted to come on Howard’s show to apologize in person. But Howard told him, “Not necessary, I don’t wanna get into it … it’s fine.'”
Howard himself knows the feeling of saying regretful stuff on air … saying he told Jerry he’s had to apologize for insulting someone he liked or was a fan of plenty of times.You’ll recall … earlier this month, Jerry said on David Spade and Dana Carvey‘s podcast, “Fly on the Wall,” he didn’t think Howard was all that funny in the age of modern podcasting, suggesting he’d been left in the dust by all the competition of today.
He quickly backtracked, telling TMZ he was sorry about what he said about his buddy. He clarified to us he actually meant Howard must feel surrounded by competition, not outflanked, which he understood sounded terrible and insulting