NEW YORK —  A Jewish theater company has declared war on Howard Stern — hiring his radio nemesis to fight his demands that his actress-daughter be paid for her nude appearance in a recent play.

Stern wants retroactive pay and monetary damages for Emily Stern, who he says abruptly quit the Jewish Theater of New York production of "Kabbalah" because the theater's Web site had posted her unauthorized photo to exploit her father's name.

But Wednesday, the theater fired back with a letter from lawyer Ron Kuby, who co-hosts a daily WABC radio show that airs opposite Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio raunch-fest.

Kuby said he's ready to fight a Stern lawsuit against the theater and said Emily was trying to "bully the very theater that gave her the opportunity she so craved."

Theater spokeswoman Isi Tannbaum called the demand for damages "shameful."