Jon Stewart is known for his hosting and as a political satirist, but Marc Maron, another host, was not a fan of him.
In the NPR series Wild Card with Rachel Martin, he opened up about making his colleague at Comedy Central a “nemesis” in his mind because that’s what motivated him.
“I always have a nemesis… like most of that is fueled by resentment, insecurity, jealousy, or whatever,” he shared.
“It’s habit and it’s the never ending sort of, you know, struggle against acting out of insecurity… or resentment, self-acceptance,” the actor, who briefly hosted Short Attention Span Theater, which Jon once helmed.
He shared the success of The Daily Show host, which made him jealous. “I always used to think it was just ’cause he committed to a haircut and… a way of presenting. But like, he was just everywhere.”
“And he was a standup but… he was everywhere… He was the king of the thing… politics, satire, whatever.”
Due to this, Marc said they “are not friends,” adding that Jon “doesn’t particularly like” him, and the WTF with Marc Maron host took responsibility for this. “It was resentment. It was me being kind of… small minded.”
Moreover, the comedian recalled inviting Jon to his podcast to end the rift between them. “I reached out to him, and I remember… he called me back. I was in a hotel room in Portlan. And he goes, ‘Hey, you know, it’s, it’s Jon Stewart.’ I’m like, ‘Hey man, how you doing?’”
But the 62-year-old declined his request. “He said, ‘Look, you know, it’s like whatever you’re doing… there’s no love here.’ And then he said… ‘I’m sure what you’re doing is very creative.”
“But… I’m just — there’s no love here.’ And I’m like, ‘Got it, dude.’ And uh yeah… so, I guess it was pretty creative,” Marc concluded.