Fans Claim Howard Stern Used Fake Callers to Clap Back at Jerry Seinfeld

Howard Stern was back on SiriusXM this morning, his first live appearance since Jerry Seinfeld questioned the shock jock’s “comedy chops” on the Fly On the Wall podcast last week. “Let’s face it,” Seinfeld told Dana Carvey and David Spade. “(Howard) has been outflanked” by the multitude of podcasts hosted by funnier comedians. Seinfeld must have realized his remarks would hurt the feelings of the chronically thin-skinned Stern, issuing a heartfelt-ish apology within hours of the podcast’s airing.

“None of these little shows are any threat to his giant show,” Seinfeld insisted after realizing he’d stuck his sneaker in his mouth. “Anyway, it was bad and I’m sorry, Howie. I still love you. Please forgive me.”

Stern didn’t fire back at Hamptons buddy Seinfeld today — at least not directly. The Redditors on r/howardstern took note. “You would think Howie and crew would come out swinging today to put on a good show after the criticism this weekend,” said u/True_Cartographer557. “But what do they do? More complaining about the knicks from a “fan” who doesn’t know shit about sports, gross old man sex talk and stupid impressions. If I were Howie, I call an audible for today and stick with staff interactions. That might be the only thing they have left.”

Or, suggested several Redditors, maybe some fake phone calls were in order. One of the first callers, according to u/vipstrippers, told Stern he was the greatest entertainer of all time. “Jesus, just fucking stop with the calls.” 

“Today was a call-heavy show, each one faker than the last,” agreed u/FakeLisaG. Other users co-signed on the accusation with comments like, “If they had any talent at all they would disguise the fake callers. These are just blatantly ass kissing and obviously fake,” and “Every single day is the same fake phone shit over and over.”

The message behind the phony calls, if indeed they were fake, was easy to translate, says u/joomommyhappy: “Seinfeld’s comments really, really got to him.”

One other clue that Seinfeld’s criticism was on Stern’s mind? Several listeners noted that while Stern never addressed the comic’s comments head-on, he did use the word “outflanked” several times during his show. The term, of course, isn’t part of his usual on-air vocabulary. 

u/ArtisticSir1433 may have Stern’s ultimate strategy all figured out. “He is just going to ignore it. Knows he has no bullets left in his gun and Seinfeld is a relationship he\Beth doesn’t want to fuck up.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.