Howard Stern’s War On ‘Queen Of All Phonies’ Kathie Lee Gifford

Howard Stern made his name as a shock jock in the 1990s — and no one got blasted more than Kathie Lee Gifford, who endured the nastiest attacks ever on a morning host!

It was the decade when Howard Stern was entertaining listeners on his syndicated show every morning, with Kathie Lee sitting down with Regis Philbin on "Live" just when her rival went off the air. Before the frantic feud was over, Howard would set a new low in personal attacks while winning millions of new fans!

Stern was routinely attacking Kathie Lee on the air, but his vicious rants didn't go mainstream until he put them in print for his best-selling books "Private Parts" and "Miss America."

And in an exclusive interview, Stern told The National ENQUIRER that he hated the bubbly born-again beauty because she's so "hypocritical with her holier-than-thou attitude...I think most of America can't stand her!"

"I saw her on the cover of a magazine recently," he complained, "hugging a black baby, doing the Mother Teresa thing. It reeked. I take particular glee in talking about how phony she is."

The radio host also took pleasure going after Kathie Lee's marriage to Frank Gifford, blasting her as a shallow celeb who married a sugar daddy: "She's promoting Carnival Cruise Line and you see old Giff laying there like he's in a coma. She says, 'Honey, we're going to spend a couple of more days on this cruise.' The guy is wrapped up like a mummy because he's freezing on deck!"

Stern was gleeful over Kathie Lee's biggest scandals — when she was charged with running a sweat shop, and Frank was caught on video having an affair with a blonde stewardess! Stern also didn't hold back on admitting that his own hatred for Kathie Lee had a sexual motivation!

"She is every goody-two-shoes that wouldn't have sex with me," said Stern. "I'd like to lick her all over, seduce her. 'I love you, Kathie Lee. I love the empty beach ball that sits on your neck. Satan loves all phonies and you are the queen of all phonies!'"

Kathie Lee, meanwhile, refused to blast Howard back in public — and ended up getting the last laugh as Stern tried to go straight with mainstream success. Longtime fans have mocked Stern for groveling to his enemies over previous attacks, and Kathie Lee says she got the deluxe treatment in 2012.

Kathie Lee told talk-show host Andy Cohen about how Stern asked for forgiveness while having to promote his new role on the family-friendly show "America's Got Talent." She recalled an email that Stern's never contested, saying that her old nemesis asked: "'Can you forgive me?'"

"I said, 'Howard, I forgave you a long time ago,'" recalled Kathie Lee. "I'm just so glad that now you're doing your own good work that everyone of us has to do when we've hurt people, and asked for forgiveness. I said, this is the beginning of wisdom for you!'"