VIDEO: Howard Stern - "The Mere Mention Of Jay Leno's Name Makes Me Want To Vomit"
March 2 2010, Published 12:52 p.m. ET
The King of All Media Howard Stern is not on the welcome wagon for Jay Leno in his return to late night, as the radio icon delivered one of his venomous attacks toward The Tonight Show host on the CBS Early Show Tuesday, and RadarOnline.com has all of it here for you.
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"The bottom line is Jay is ... a thief, and that's what gets my goat the most," Stern in a rare TV interview from his Sirius XM studio. "I've always considered myself and original, I've always considered Dave Letterman an original, I think he's a pioneer.
"Jay takes and lifts bits directly from my show, directly from Dave's show, even this Green Car bit is a rip-off from a television show from England, they don't have an original thought on that show," Stern said. "Jay's signature bit, ‘Jaywalking,’ is a direct rip-off from my show, I've been doing that bit for years."
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Stern told Harry Smith the "mere mention of Jay Leno's name makes me want to vomit," adding that Leno "seems to be the kind of showbiz animal who won't let go."
Stern said that he disliked Leno for many reasons, starting with the fact that Leno forced Johnny Carson out of The Tonight Show chair in the early 90s, while late night rival Letterman handled his transition with far more integrity and class.
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Stern has been publicly bashing Leno since 2004, when his then-lackey "Stuttering" John Melendez defected from the top-rated radio show to assume announcing duties for Leno. Stern said on his radio show he had confronted Leno about stealing the ‘Jaywalking’ bit in a phone conversation after Melendez left, and Leno countered the man-on-the-street style sketch had been created by ex-Tonight Show Host Steve Allen, and not the radio host.