What did Jerry Seinfeld say about Howard Stern? Comedian apologizes over recent remarks

On the evening of May 8, stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer Jerry Seinfeld issued a public apology via his spokesperson for calling his friend and media personality, Howard Stern, not that funny.

“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. I meant to say he must feel surrounded but I said "outflanked" which sounded terrible and insulting,” the statement read.

Earlier the same day, during his appearance on the Fly on the Wall podcast with Carvey and Spade, Jerry Seinfeld stated that even though Howard Stern “invented” comedy podcasts, he was “outflanked” by many others who followed in his footsteps.

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Jerry Seinfeld urged Howard Stern to “forgive” him for his latest remarks

On Wednesday’s episode of the podcast Fly on the Wall, Jerry Seinfeld shared his opinions about Howard Stern's comic stature with hosts Dana Carvey and David Spade. He observed:

“Howard Stern invented this [comedy radio and podcasts], right? But we are better than him now. Howard is interesting. Howard is a great interviewer, but comedy chops, I mean, can we speak candidly?”

In response, Spade said, “Sure,” while Carvey added, “No! Well, he [Stern] got Robin [Quivers], and Robin is a big part of how he is funny,” the latter said about Howard’s co-host. At this point, Jerry Seinfeld followed up by saying how he prefers Fly on the Wall to The Howard Stern Show and explained:

“Yeah, they are all great but let’s face it, he has been outflanked by some very, and yourselves, I mean absolutely this show, comedy podcasts? This is the best one on the air. Because you guys play nice together, it’s smooth, and you are not jumping on each other, which is annoying to listen to.”

The Curb Your Enthusiasm star also shared that he found the sudden growth of the comedy podcast genre puzzling, stating,

“Who knew there was a market? Who knew people wanted to get to know us? Who gets the credit for figuring it out?”

In the wake of this, the 70-year-old Jerry Seinfeld issued an apology for seemingly slamming Howard Stern. His representative told major news outlets including Page Six and Entertainment Weekly that the Unfrosted director feels bad for what he said earlier that day.

The spokesperson clarified that Seinfeld meant to use “surrounded” but instead said “outflanked,” without meaning it, but nonetheless took full responsibility for it since it may even be deemed as “terrible and insulting.”

“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,” the statement read.

So far, Howard Stern has not issued a statement in response to Seinfeld’s remarks and subsequent apology.

Meanwhile, the former NBC star is not the only person to call out the America’s Got Talent judge, Stern, in recent times. Last year, Stern’s longtime radio rival Mancow Muller slammed the former on his Dark Side of the 2000s docuseries for making “vile” jokes about him, during a difficult time in the late 1990s, when his father was battling cancer.

Likewise, Kathie Lee Gifford claimed in 2018 during an appearance on the Today Show how the Private Parts author “hated [my] guts” despite never meeting her in person.