Howard Stern shrugs off Jerry Seinfeld’s ‘comedy chops’ slam

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Howard Stern isn’t letting Jerry Seinfeld’s criticism of his “comedy chops” get him down.

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Last week, during an appearance on Dana Carvey and David Spade’s Fly on the Wall podcast, Seinfeld knocked the radio personality as they discussed how Stern “invented” podcast culture.

“Howard is interesting. Howard is a great interviewer, but comedy chops, I mean, can we speak candidly?” Seinfeld said.

The comedian then continued, saying that he prefers Carvey and Spade’s podcast to Stern’s radio show.

“Let’s face it, he’s been outflanked by some very, and yourselves, I mean absolutely, this show, comedy podcast? This is the best one on the air,” Seinfeld added. “Because you guys play nice together, it’s smooth, you’re not jumping on each other, which is annoying to listen to.”

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Seinfeld quickly apologized, telling TMZ he felt “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.”

The stand-up star insisted to TMZ that he “meant to say (Stern) 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,” Seinfeld continued. “Anyway, it was bad and I’m sorry, Howie. I still love you. Please forgive me,” Seinfeld concluded.

But Stern shrugged off the viral criticism, saying Seinfeld’s remarks were “no big deal.”

Stern said on The Howard Stern Show this week that he learned about Seinfeld’s comments when he was looking at Google News and saw headlines that said “basically, I’m an interviewer and that I’m not a comedian.”

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“I read it, and I went to my wife, ‘Oh, that’s weird,’ because Jerry is a personal friend of ours,” Stern said, adding that Seinfeld’s partner Jessica is close friends with his wife Beth.

“Beth texted Jessica, Jessica told Jerry, Jerry called me immediately and was like, ‘Oh, f—, I f—ed up, and I want to apologize.’ He goes, ‘You know when you’re on the air, and s— just comes out wrong?’” Stern recalled of their conversation (per The Hollywood Reporter). “I said, ‘Jerry, you don’t even have to – please. This is embarrassing. I am the king of going on the air and having millions of regrets afterwards. Apology accepted. I don’t care.’”

Elsewhere, during his Fly on the Wall appearance, Seinfeld took aim at comedians who are talk about their personal life.

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“Jesus Christ, make us laugh, how interesting do you think you are?” he said. “You’re not that interesting, OK? You’re not. When you’re funny, you’re worth it. This is my line, which you know me, you know me, no but you know that I draw that line. If you’re not that funny, we’re not that interested in you.”

Stern said Seinfeld offered to come on his radio show and make amends on air to his listeners, but assured him it wasn’t necessary.

“I don’t wanna get into it, it’s awkward. It’s fine,” Stern said. “It wasn’t really that big of a deal.”

He also said he didn’t really know how he’d categorize his approach to his work.

“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.”

On Wednesday’s show, Stern made light of the comments. “Why, when it comes to me, everything comes out wrong?” he joked.

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