Marc Maron vs. Jon Stewart
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By his own admission, this one’s on Marc Maron. The two comics came up at about the same time back in the 90s, with Stewart finding more early mainstream success. A jealous Maron would heckle Stewart from the stage:
Oh, there he is, Jon Stewart from MTV. How does that feel, you sell-out f***?
“Jon always represented to me why I was failing,” admits Maron. “I’m a smart Jewish guy, we’re about the same age, and yet… He knew where he wanted to go and how to align himself, whereas I always saw agents and managers as the enemies – the suits. So when I’d see him, I’d act like he was personally destroying me.”
And yet! Stewart would still invite Maron on his pre-Daily Show programs, only to get more abuse. “Oh, so you’re the big shot, huh? Mr Big Guy?” Finally, Stewart found Maron backstage at an event and announced that he’d had enough, refusing to talk to him anymore.
As Maron got older, he realized he was being the jerk. “When you’re a bitter person or a jealous person, you’re going to have that one dude – he represents everything you could have been.”
Maron has tried to book Stewart for a public apology on his WTF podcast, but Stewart turned him down. “He called me back – and he doesn’t call people – and he’s like, ‘hey… I don’t know if you remember, you know, what a dick you were to me back in the day…there’s no love here, man.’”