‘Germaphobe’ Howard Stern says first time out with friends after Covid was ‘exhausting’

That night’s outing at Laser Wolf marked the first time Stern, who is fully vaccinated, had left the confines of his home in two years as he continues to deal with a crippling fear of contracting Covid.

According to Page Six, Stern was joined by Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Jon Hamm, Justin Theroux, and longtime friend Jimmy Kimmel, who organized the dinner.

The tabloid was informed by someone who was also dining at Laser Wolf at the time that Stern was not wearing a mask, and made a point of telling staff that it was his first night out since the beginning of the pandemic.

On Monday, Stern recalled the evening on his radio show, which he has been recording from home since 2020.

"I really had an exhausting weekend, emotionally, physically," he said. “For the first time in two years I ventured out of the house."

He described the experience as "exhausting," saying "it was too much … it was too much."

Stern explained that upon hearing that he and his wife had been invited by Kimmel, he vehemently expressed his desire to stay home.

"I said to my wife, ‘I don’t want to go, I'm in a panic, I don’t want to get Covid'." Stern recalled, adding, "I know our president has told us the pandemic is over and everyone is walking around without masks," but, "I still just don’t want to get Covid."

As the Daily Wire reports, Stern has long been a self-described "germaphobe," with the pandemic essentially turning him into a hermit afraid of the outside world.

He allegedly even went so far as to require those visiting his Southampton estate to test negative.

Stern’s "unhealthy" behavior concerned his friends, including Kimmel, who warned that the longer he was isolated from society, the harder it would get to bring him back out into it.