Highlights

• Howard Stern once tried to start a feud between Piers Morgan and Larry King during an interview on CNN.
• Larry King's opinion of Piers Morgan as his CNN replacement changed from neutral to negative after the show.
• The feud between Larry King and Piers Morgan outlasted their time on TV, never resolving before King's passing.

Self-proclaimed King of All Media Howard Stern once had a penchant for starting feuds. Usually, by publicly bashing A-listers in some pretty creative, albeit inappropriate, ways. Without question, the radio legend became super rich and successful by being the edgiest entity in the industry. Those days have come and gone, as Stern is now best known for his stellar celebrity interviews, including his conversation with Barbra Streisand. Stern also has been called a hypocrite for now befriending many of the stars he bashed on his show. He even admitted to being "a sell-out" based on his interaction with Woody Allen.

But back when Howard Stern was on Piers Morgan's short-lived CNN talk show, the former shock jock was still stirring the pot. And he did just that when he tried to start a feud between Morgan and Larry King, who once dominated that same time slot. In this article, we will reveal what Howard Stern said to Piers Morgan in order to try to start a feud between him and Larry King. Following that, we will reveal what Larry King actually thought about the man who replaced him on CNN.

Howard Stern Tried To Get Piers Morgan To Bash Larry King

Prior to Howard Stern and Piers Morgan's 2011 interview on Piers Morgan Tonight, the two had a somewhat friendly yet competitive relationship. Stern had made fun of Morgan on his SiriusXM satellite radio show multiple times; including for over what Morgan did as a judge on America's Got Talent. A year after their interview, Stern would briefly take over for Piers Morgan on AGT, a move that surprised many of his fans. Before their 2011 interview, Morgan had appeared on The Howard Stern Show. Morgan claimed that the interview had a certain amount of pressure since one of Stern's producers claimed that he may only be on for five minutes if he was "boring". That didn't end up being the case, however.

It only took a matter of seconds into their 2011 before Stern attempted to start a feud between Morgan and Larry King, who had dominated the same CNN timeslot for decades prior to his departure in June 2010.

Piers Morgan Tonight was quickly rebranded at Piers Morgan Live and featured the British talk show host chatting with a number of famous artists, musicians, politicians, and news figures. It ran on CNN as a replacement for Larry King's iconic talk show from 2011 until 2014.

"First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on unseating a 95-year-old man. Good for you," Stern said to Morgan, who laughed in response.

"Poor Larry King is sitting at home right now, pulling what few hairs he has left in his head out. I mean what a nutjob."

"You leave Larry King alone," Piers Morgan interjected, giving Stern even more of an opportunity to try and poke the bear.

"Do you like Larry?' Stern asked.

"I love Larry."

"I was always amazed the dignitaries, president, people who are important, people who have security teams, would sit here with this maniac. I mean, Larry--"

"Larry King is not a 'maniac'," Morgan interrupted before trying to get the interview back on track. Howard Stern's 2011 appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight marked just his very second episode of the short-lived talk show which was canceled by CNN in 2014. As Morgan explained that he didn't want to get canceled after just his second show, Stern straight up claimed that he wasn't sure if Piers Morgan Tonight would even be successful. Since Stern's comedic attempt at starting a war between the new CNN host and the old one didn't quite work, the radio legend decided to take a shot at Morgan.

"Look, I love you on America's Got Talent. I think you're a terrific judge, I think you're a nice man. But who the hell knows what you're going to do on here? They tell me that you're a journalist --"

"What do you mean, 'they tell you I'm a journalist'?"

"That's just what they tell me, that you're a journalist. I've been doing this for 25 years."

"Well, people in America don't know that," Stern claimed.

"They do now," Morgan snapped back as Stern tried to get him to recite his resume and entire career in order to prove to American audiences he was worthy of taking over Larry King's time slot.

While the rest of their interview contained some moments of introspection and revelation, Stern and Morgan repeatedly took playful shots at one another. This included Morgan calling Stenr 'boring' and claiming he was the better interviewer. Stern, who was totally unbothered by Morgan's attempts at dressing him down, continued to lecture the Brit about the massive shoes he was filling. Stern also threatened Morgan if he actually wanted to start a feud with him.

What Did Larry King Think Of Piers Morgan?

Larry King said little to nothing about Piers Morgan taking over his timeslot when he retired from Larry King Live on CNN in 2010. However, prior to his death in 2021, King did come clean about what he actually thought of Morgan's interviewing skills and what he did with is old time slot.

• Larry King hosted Larry King Live on CNN for 25 years
• Piers Morgan hosts Piers Morgan Tonight/Live for 3 years

While speaking to HuffPost Canada, King said the following:

"He's fine. It's just that I left myself out of interviews ... I just — that's not my style. So it's commenting on his style. Personally, I like him a lot."

After Piers Morgan Live was canceled in 2014, Larry King became far more specific about what he actually didn't like about the man who replaced him. According to an interview with The Guardian, Larry King said...

"My problem with Piers was nothing personal, but he was the antithesis of what I was ... I don't berate guests and I don't make it about me. The guest isn't a prop. I didn't enjoy that. And I would say that about any host who I felt didn't serve his audience well. And I think Piers did not do that. I didn't like that type of interview"

This caused Piers Morgan to slam King on Twitter, stating that he tried to effect change in America (mainly about gun control) while King primarily just "blew smoke up celebrities backsides." When Larry King died in 2021, Morgan again took to Twitter to both honor the man and make fun of him for being married 8 times. According to Listal, the two celebrities never resolved their differences.