Jerry Seinfeld apologized for saying that Howard Stern lacked "comedy chops."
"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 said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, referring to his appearance on Carvey and Spade's "Fly on the Wall" podcast.
Seinfeld made the remarks while talking about the popularity of podcast culture with Spade and Carvey recently.
"Howard Stern invented this, right?" he asked his two fellow comedian hosts, according to Variety.
"But we're better than him now," Seinfeld continued. "Howard is interesting. Howard is a great interviewer, but comedy chops, I mean, can we speak candidly?"
Spade agreed but Carvey held opposing views.
"Well, he got Robin, and Robin is a big part of how he's funny," Carvey said of Stern's co-host Robin Quivers.
"Yeah, they're all great but 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."
In his statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Seinfeld clarified that he "meant to say he [Stern] must feel surrounded but I said 'outflanked,' which sounded terrible and insulting."
"I meant to say he must feel surrounded but I said 'outflanked,' which sounded terrible and insulting," he 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."
Seinfeld has not held back in sharing his views in recent weeks. His criticism of Stern comes on the heels of controversial remarks Seinfeld made about the "extreme left" and political correctness, which he said have ruined television comedy.
During an appearance on David Remnick's "The New Yorker Radio Hour," the comedian stated that comedy has changed dramatically in recent years.
"This is the result of the extreme left, PC crap and people worrying so much about offending other people," Seinfeld said. "Now they're going to see stand-up comics because we are not policed by anyone. The audience polices us. We know when we're off-track. We know instantly and we adjust to it instantly.
"But 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."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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