Howard Stern has officially responded to Jerry Seinfeld saying that he isn’t very funny.
Last week, Seinfeld, 70, claimed that Stern, 70, is lacking “comedy chops” on the “Fly on the Wall” podcast.
After Seinfeld’s comments went viral, he issued an apology to the famous radio host.
Stern broke his silence on Seinfeld’s remarks and subsequent apology on “The Howard Stern Show” Monday.“Jerry had said that basically I’m an interviewer and that I’m not a comedian, and that now comedians have podcasts and comedians are, you know, funnier or something than me,” Stern said. “I read it, and I went, ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ because Jerry is a personal friend of ours. Especially his wife, Jessica [Seinfeld], is really good friends with Beth [Stern].”
Stern confirmed that Seinfeld called him “immediately” to apologize for his comments — and Stern was happy to forgive his friend.
“I said ‘Jerry, you don’t even have to — please. This is embarrassing. I’m the king of going on the air and having millions of regrets afterward. Apology accepted, I don’t care. And you know what? If I’m not a comedian, I’m an interviewer. I don’t know what I am. I always considered myself a bit of a comedian, but whatever it is, don’t worry about it,’ ” Stern explained, adding that Seinfeld “apologized for a really long time, and he said it really came out wrong.”
Stern also revealed that Seinfeld asked to come on his SiriusXM radio show to apologize there, but Stern shut him down.
“I said, ‘Not necessary, I don’t wanna get into it. It’s awkward, it’s fine,’ ” Stern explained. “I said, ‘I’ve had to apologize to you for s – – t I’ve said. I’ve had to call up people and apologize for s – – t I’ve done on the air when I’m a huge fan of these people. I don’t know what gets into me, I f – – k up sometimes.”
He added: “So it wasn’t really that big a deal. I didn’t really think much about it.”
Seinfeld was on Dana Carvey and David Spade’s podcast May 8 when he shared his candid thoughts about Stern.
He recognized that Stern “invented” comedy interview podcasts and is “a great interviewer,” but admitted that he thinks the King of All Media has “been outflanked” by other talented podcasters.
“We’re better than him now,” Seinfeld said.
In his apology that was issued after the podcast episode went live, the “Unfrosted” star-director-co-writer took back his criticisms of Stern.
“I meant to say he must feel surrounded, but I said ‘outflanked’ which sounded terrible and insulting,” Seinfeld said. “And of course, none of these little shows are any threat to his giant show. Anyway, it was bad and I’m sorry, Howie. I still love you. Please forgive me.”
Ironically, Stern previously praised Seinfeld for his comedy skills when he was on “The View” in 2019.
Stern called Seinfeld “accomplished” while commending several comedians that he’s interviewed in his career.
