Arsenio Hall remembers the moment Howard Stern took their late-night squabble too far.
The former talk show host and the New York DJ were locked in a feud during the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, a period when controversy and the changing of the guard marked a new era in late-night history.
“The Arsenio Hall Show” premiered in 1989 and ran for six seasons, ending in 1994. In a new interview with the New York Times to promote his book, “Arsenio: A Memoir,” Hall revisited the rivalry with Stern, recalling the instance he knew their hard-hitting jokes had devolved into stinging personal attacks.
When Stern was a guest on Fox’s “The Late Show” hosted by Hall in 1987, he commented that it was a “failing show” and asked, “How long before you get the pink slip?”
During their sit-down, Stern ranted that the network courted him for a show before passing him over. Hall landed the gig and joked he was another Black man making more money than Stern.
Hall told the Times, “When Magic Johnson contracted HIV and Howard said, ‘I hope Arsenio dies,’ that’s when I realized it wasn’t joking around. He really hated me.” The Los Angeles Lakers point guard announced his diagnosis in 1991. Johnson did his first interview post-HIV announcement with Hall.
Hall added that their exchange “hurt the business a lot. Howard has die-hard fans who do anything he says. Howard can hurt your numbers… My biggest struggle was not against other talk show hosts. It was against an angry Howard.”
They seemingly made amends prior to the comedian’s 2021 appearance on “The Howard Stern Show.”
Stern even complimented Arsenio, saying, “Going back and observing your talk show, there’s some great stuff to go back there and look at.”
Upon learning how much “hate” Stern previously had for Hall, one reader commented, “Howard loves to hate. Money is his only true companion.” A second person remarked, “Much of Stern’s audience ARE Trump’s cult members…so that comment doesn’t add up. Stern, as usual, is full of it.”
During his 1992 guest spot on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Howard ripped, “This moron Arsenio, who couldn’t even do stand-up comedy — Jay, true or false, you are a stand-up comic, you sit at home at night evaluating other comics with Jerry Seinfeld — Is Arsenio a good stand-up comic? No. Say it, say the truth.”
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is cancelled
— Chrissi Nielsen (@NielsenChrissi) July 18, 2025
I give you REAL comedians
Johnny Carson
David Letterman
Jay Leno
Arsenio Hall
These guys made you laugh and were genuinely funny
They didn't have to be political
Stephen is not on same level pic.twitter.com/kkycHFXuzN
Leno didn’t join Stern in his teardown; instead, he responded, “No, he is a pretty good stand-up.” Stern rebuffed Leno’s kindness.
Howard objected. “That’s a lie! … My viewing on Arsenio is he’s a crummy stand-up comic,” he said, ranting that Hall’s schmoozing with Leno’s late-night predecessors Johnny Carson and sidekick Ed McMahon was another point of contention.
The following year, 1993, Stern told Entertainment Weekly, “Arsenio has no talent. Arsenio’s talent is kissing a–. I can’t watch those interviews. I cannot take the ass-sucking that goes on on a nightly basis.”
“The Arsenio Hall Show” was revived in 2013 but only lasted one season. Stern’s radio show is still on the air and was recently renewed for three more years.
