Podcasting trailblazer and comedian Marc Maron recently shared insights into his longstanding rivalry with Jon Stewart during a candid conversation with Esquire.
“Jon never did anything to me,” Maron, now 61, admitted in the interview. “I was just jealous.”
In the piece published on Thursday, Maron revealed that both he and Stewart are of a similar age and share certain characteristics. However, he acknowledged that the “smart, cute Jewish guy”—referring to Stewart—was more adept at leveraging his abilities to achieve success.
“I remember when he was doing the MTV show and then had his talk show,” Maron recalled. “He even invited me on, but my jealousy was so intense. I’d openly criticize him, even to his face, saying things like, ‘Who do you think you are?'”
Maron noted that there was a time when the 62-year-old host of “The Daily Show” seemed to be omnipresent in the entertainment world.
“For some reason, I viewed him as the standard,” Maron explained. “I thought, ‘If only I could get my act together, I could be more like that guy.'”
Maron said during a July taping of the PBS “Wild Card” podcast that he once tried talking Stewart into hashing out their differences on the air, but it didn’t work out.
“I’m not doing that,” Stewart allegedly replied in a phone call. “Whatever you’re doing… there’s no love here.”
Maron claimed during that PBS interview “He does not particularly like me.”
The New Jersey native announced in June he was stepping away from his “WTF with Marc Maron” show following a 16-year run that produced nearly 1,700 podcasts. His final show aired Monday with a visit from former President Barack Obama.
