Howard Stern has feuded with an incredible amount of celebrities. It's one of the reasons why millions of fans tuned into his show over the past 40 years. But Howard has also evolved over the past two decades, even building bridges with those he once slammed on his iconic radio show. In particular, his relationship with Rosie O'Donnell has never been better. That's pretty amazing since he has said some truly awful things about her in the past. The same is true for Jon Bon Jovi, with who he had a massive feud in the early 1990s. Nowadays, the two are extraordinarily close, so much so that Jon only wanted Howard to induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But one celebrity Howard has never made up with is Jay Leno.

Listeners of The Howard Stern Show are well aware that Howard absolutely hates Jay and has for decades. Despite his personal evolution, Howard has never quite moved past his disdain for the former Tonight Show Host. Sure, his temper has calm, but as recent as September 2021, Howard slammed the 'barrel-chested' comedian. Here's the real reason why...

Howard Has Had Numerous Bad Encounters With Jay

Howard Stern may just have been one of the best talk show guests in the 1990s and early 2000s. While he's still stellar (when he actually allows someone to interview him), he particularly rocked it when he was at his most outrageous. This is because he would come on and just take over. His best appearances were on The Late Show With David Letterman. But Howard also did The Tonight Show With Jay Leno a few times in the early 1990s. However, Howard's time on Jay wasn't nearly as pleasant. A lot of that had to do with the fact that Jay didn't want an edgy show. David was far more flexible with the often outrageous Howard.

Jay also sat back as one of his guests attacked Howard's longtime co-host, Robin Quivers, during a segment on his show for her allegiance with the shock jock. Not only did this anger Robin, but Howard was irate. There was also a bit of a conflict of interest for Howard in terms of Jay Leno because of David Letterman. Of course, David and Jay were locked in a somewhat fabricated feud for years due to them being competitors. Howard preferred David, both as a comedian and host, but also as a person.

Related: Inside Howard Stern's Relationship With David Letterman

The Moment When Howard Absolutely HATED Jay

Stuttering John Melendez is the reason for Howard's pure hatred of Jay. For years, Stuttering John worked on The Howard Stern Show as one of the most controversial staffers. And if you know anything about Howard, loyalty is everything. This is why he's had basically the same employees for the entirety of his career. But Howard wasn't the only one interested in Stuttering John.

Related: The Truth About Howard Stern's Relationship With Oprah Winfrey

Howard has accused Jay of stealing bits from his radio show as well as a host of other programs. In fact, he has publically called Jay 'a crook' numerous times. But Jay really proved Howard's point when he poached Stuttering John from his show. Even Howard's former colleague and enemy, Artie Lange, has said that Jay really should have called him to say that he wanted "one of his major guys". But no one told Howard.

Without much notice, John jumped ship to join Jay's show. This made John as much of an enemy to Howard as Jay was. And the two are still locked in battle. While Howard never brings up his former colleague, John is constantly bashing Howard in the press. In fact, he's almost always solely responsible for the nasty rumors circulating about Howard.

There's a lot of bad blood.

Other Reasons Why Howard Hates Jay And What Jay Thinks Of It All

Howard has never given up fighting 'a war' with Jay. While he's furious about Jay stealing John and many of his bits, he's also been furious about how Jay treated David as well as the whole late-night war with Conan O'Brien. In fact, Howard was one of the loudest defenders of Conan after Jay stole his job from him in 2010.

Year after year, Howard has found a new way of bashing Jay publicly. This includes on his show, Jimmy Kimmel's show, David Letterman's show, and even on Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee.

While Howard did say something positive about Jay in 2019 and even said he would consider interviewing him on his show, in 2021 he was bashing him again. On September 7th, Howard slammed Jay Leno for his new show, You Bet Your Life. This is because Jay was taking Groucho Marx's bit and basically trying to make it is. In Howard's opinion, Jay was once again taking a better comedian's material.

Related: The Truth About Howard Stern's Relationship With Kristen Bell And Dax Shepard

So, we know why Howard loathes Jay so much, but what does Jay think of Howard and the feud between them?

During an interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2019, Jay explained his side of things. Or rather... he actually avoided the topic by trying to play nice and compliment Howard.

"I didn’t get into the feud, because you’re not going to win a feud with Howard. Howard is good. If you start that feud, boom, you’re down," Jay explained. "So if you just let it roll, it’s fine. I don't hold any grudges. I listen to him now, he's funny, he's good."

Despite Jay's positive words, it's doubtful that Howard took them seriously. Even though Howard has gone through a tremendous evolution and made up with numerous celebrities, Jay is just one that will always remain on his s*** list.

Next: The Truth About Howard Stern's Relationship With His Former Co-Host, Artie Lange