Arsenio Hall Says Howard Stern 'Really Hated' Him for Years: 'I Hope Arsenio Dies'

Victoria EdelTue, March 31, 2026 at 4:52 PM UTC

0

Arsenio Hall on 'The Arsenio Hall Show' in 1989 (left); Howard Stern on 'The Howard Stern Show' circa the 1990s (right)Credit: Ted Thai/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock -

Arsenio Hall looked back at his feud with Howard Stern

Hall said that Stern "really hated him" and that it ultimately hurt the ratings for The Arsenio Hall Show

Hall appeared on Stern's talk show in 2021

Arsenio Hall is looking back at his talk show and what role it played in late-night wars.

Hall, 70, is releasing a memoir titled Arsenio this week, and he opened up about it in an interview with The New York Times, published on March 30. The Arsenio Hall Show ran in syndication from 1989 to 1994 and became a hit in major markets.

The Times noted that Hall’s show often “leaned into controversy,” including telling Entertainment Weekly that he would “kick [Jay] Leno’s ass.”

“There were times when Jay thought I didn’t work as hard as he did. And he criticized my monologue,” Hall explained. “And somebody got that to me. We definitely battled.” Years later, Hall appeared on The Jay Leno Show, and the pair have toured together.

The interviewer also noted that Hall appeared on The Howard Stern Show and noted, “That surprised me, because maybe your ugliest feud was with him.”

Arsenio Hall (left) and Whitney Houston in 1989Credit: Jeff Hochberg/Getty

Hall explained, “When Magic Johnson contracted H.I.V. and Howard said, ‘I hope Arsenio dies,’ that’s when I realized it wasn’t joking around. He really hated me.” Hall was friends with Johnson, who announced he had contracted H.I.V. in 1991, and frequently appeared on this show.

In an episode of The Tonight Show in 1992, Stern, 72, called Hall a “moron” who “couldn’t even do stand-up comedy.” He told Entertainment Weekly in 1993, “Arsenio has no talent. Arsenio's talent is kissing ass. I can't watch those interviews. I cannot take the ass sucking that goes on on a nightly basis.”

Advertisement

“I’ll be honest: It hurt the business a lot. Howard has die-hard fans who do anything he says. Howard can hurt your numbers,” Hall said. “My biggest struggle was not against other talk show hosts. It was against an angry Howard.”

The Times asked why he appeared on the show in 2021. “I have pretty thick skin,” Hall said. “I heard a therapist use a word called ‘weathering’ once. When you’re Black, between the racism and hate that you experience, there’s a weathering that takes place. You build up a callus.”

Howard Stern on 'The Howard Stern Show'Credit: Photo by DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

During his appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Hall said that he was “the fault in that conflict” with Leno, 75. “There was a magazine that asked me about the competition with Letterman and Jay and with Jay I said, ‘I know Jay very well and it’s like the Lakers and the Clippers. The Clippers lose, but they don’t try to lose, they try to win — and I’m going to try and kick his ass,’ ” Hall said. “Of course, they put a cover out saying I’m going to kick his ass.”

While Hall and Stern did not address their conflict directly, Stern was very complimentary of Hall’s TV series. “Going back and observing your talk show, there’s some great stuff to go back there and look at,” he said. He praised especially appearances by Michael Jackson, Prince and Bill Clinton (with his saxophone) on the show. “You were delivering the f---ing goods,” he said, but noted that there was a perception he wasn’t doing enough. Hall said that when Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show in 1992, the network wanted him to inherit that audience and lean more “conservative.”

In 2020, Stern reflected on his old shows and behavior. "I'll be the first to admit. I won't go back and watch those old shows; it's like, 'Who is that guy?' But that was my shtick, that's what I did and I own it,” he said in part. “. . . I came to realize in therapy, if I'm going to be with my kids and have a successful marriage, I can't be insane, completely, 24 hours a day. I have to figure out a better way to communicate. So I evolved and changed."

In his interview with The Times, Hall noted that there is no fighting among late night hosts anymore. “We’re in a weird time where the hosts all came together to go against late night’s arch nemesis: Donald Trump. It’s like Trump kind of galvanized late night. We fought each other for numbers. Now they’re all together for a common cause. It’s very weird,” he said.

Arsenio is available at bookstores everywhere beginning Tuesday, March 31.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”