Bad news: 2016 has stolen yet another celebrity from us.
Joey Boots is dead.
Joey was known for his work on the Howard Stern Show — he was very popular as one of the Wack Packers, and for shouting “Baba Booey!” on the show — and he also had his own podcast.
But yesterday evening, Joey failed to show up to record the podcast.
The guys sent out his fellow Wack Packer, High Pitch Erik, to check on Joey at his New York apartment
When Joey didn’t answer the door, Erik asked a building manager to open it, and that’s when they found him, slumped over in a chair, dead.
What’s worse, an audibly upset Erik recounted the entire event right on the podcast.
You can listen to the audio below, but be warned, it’s hard to listen to:
In a shaky voice, Erik explains how Joey wouldn’t come to the door, and how when the building manager opened the door, they saw his body.
The other hosts don’t believe him at first, it sounds like they thought he was joking, but it’s obvious that Erik was genuinely freaked out.
The clip ends with Erik telling the guys to end the show.
When his body was found, it was cold, and there was no sign of any trauma.
It’s believed that Joey died from natural causes, but of course we won’t know more until he’s examined.
He did suffer from diabetes, but he was only 49 years old.
It really is a shocking loss.
After the news broke that he had died, Howard Stern tweeted a sweet-ish message in his memory.
“Tribute to the one and only Joey B in the new year,” he wrore. “He will be missed.”
Stern also added the fitting hashtag “BabaooeyHowardSternpenis.”
Memet Walker, the staffer for the Howard Stern show, shared a photo of himself with Joey, and his caption read “Joey Boots wasn’t a Wack Packer to me … he was a genuine friend.”
“I’m gonna miss you like hell, buddy.”
Other friends and coworkers echoed the same sentiment: it seems like Joey was well-loved by all those who knew him.
Our condolences go out to those mourning him.
