Earlier this week, both Howard Stern and Sirius shot down rumors that the King of All Media would be cutting a deal similar to Opie & Anthony's and returning to terrestrial radio. Now New York Post writer John Mainelli says that he was fired from the paper over the story.

Mainelli told RadarOnline.com, and also Opie & Anthony on their XM show this morning, that he was fired due to his other job as a radio consultant. He says that he has been a consultant as well as a Post writer for eight years, but it was common knowledge and he made sure there was never a conflict of interest. However, the paper's Editor In Chief says he was not aware of this, which led to Mainelli's dismissal.

Stern had spent the week taking Mainelli to task over his story, which also mentioned other items about Stern's decline in visibility since his move to Sirius, such as a drop in Web traffic and claiming that "his celebrity guest bookings have all but dried up."

Mainelli told Radar that Stern has been upset with him in the past, but he still remained a fan until now. "I'm very disappointed, and I'm really pissed at Howard Stern," he told the Web site. "From now on, anything I write about him will have to have a disclaimer: John Mainelli has an ax to grind against this man."