Jerry Seinfeld apologises to Howard Stern for candid criticism of his comedy
Jerry Seinfeld has apologised to Howard Stern following some candid comments about his comedy skills.
The comedian and actor appeared on Wednesday’s edition (8 May) of the Fly on the Wall podcast, hosted by Dana Carvey and David Spade, where he complimented their work as hosts.
In the discussion, Seinfeld, 70, noted that Stern, who has hosted his radio programme The Howard Stern Show in a range of formats since the Eighties, is “outflanked” by the other talk comedy options available today.
“Howard Stern invented this, right?” the Seinfeld star said of the comedy interview show format.
“But we’re better than him now. Howard is interesting. Howard is a great interviewer, but comedy chops, I mean, can we speak candidly?”
“They’re all great but let’s face it, he’s been outflanked by some very, and yourselves, I mean absolutely, this show, comedy podcasts? This is the best one on the air,” he continued, praising Fly on the Wall.
“Because you guys play nice together, it’s smooth, you’re not jumping on each other, which is annoying to listen to.”
However, later on Wednesday, the comic expressed his regret for his comments and walked them back in a statement shared with Entertainment Weekly.
“I really feel bad for what I said about my friend Howard Stern in a conversation with David Spade and Dana Carvey, talking about the glut of comedy podcasts,” Seinfeld told the publication.
“I meant to say he must feel surrounded but I said ‘outflanked’ which sounded terrible and insulting.”
“And of course, none of these little shows are any threat to his giant show,” his statement continues. “Anyway, it was bad and I’m sorry, Howie. I still love you. Please forgive me.”
The Independent has reached out to a representative of Howard Stern for comment.
In recent weeks, Seinfeld has been sharing his thoughts on multiple aspects of the comedy and entertainment business while on the press tour for his latest film, Unfrosted.
Notably, Seinfeld spoke out against the apparent death of TV comedy, blaming “the extreme left [and] PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people”.
He told the New Yorker: “When you write a script, and it goes into four or five different hands, committees, groups, ‘Here’s our thought about this joke,’ well, that’s the end of your comedy.”
His comments were celebrated by far-right influencers, but criticised by other fans who were unimpressed by his “anti-woke” take.
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