7:08 AM PST 1/23/2021
by
Ryan Parker
The renowned radio personality and CNN journalist died Saturday. He was 87.
It is not often that Jerry Seinfeld is left speechless, but the comic was at a loss for words for a brief moment during a 2007 interview with Larry King.
The renowned radio personality and CNN journalist died Saturday. He was 87.
Of the estimated 50,000 people King interviewed through his legendary career, Seinfeld was one of them. And the stand-up comic and actor made for one of the most memorable moments with King on his long-running CNN program.
It was 2007 and Seinfeld was on to promote Bee Movie when he was stunned and then irked by King over a question regarding his iconic NBC sitcom, Seinfeld.
“You gave it up, right? They didn’t cancel you? You canceled them,” King said. A shocked Seinfeld stared for a moment before saying, “You’re not aware of this? You think I got canceled? You’re under the impression I got canceled? I thought that was pretty well documented.”
And Seinfeld was correct. NBC essentially begged him for one more season of the show, offering Seinfeld a whopping $5 million per episode. He said no. He wanted to go out on top.
In the interview, King appeared to realize he insulted the comic, but tried to play it off.
“Have I hurt you, Jerry?” King said in response to Seinfeld’s irritation, which is when the comic asked, “Is this still CNN?”
King pushed on, “Don’t most shows go down a little?” to which Seinfeld shot back, “Most people do also.”
The two then had a laugh when Seinfeld took a few more digs. “When I went off the air, I was the No. 1 show on television, Larry,” he said. “Do you know who I am? Seventy-five million viewers [for] the last episode.”
King then interjected, “Boy, you take it so bad,” before he apologized for the question.
The two men had another laugh over it before Seinfeld asked if someone could get King a résumé of his work to go over during the commercial break.
Around noon on Saturday, Seinfeld said via Twitter, “Always loved Larry King and will miss him. The ‘canceled’ bit was just me having fun with his little mistake. Nothing more. Or less. #ripLarry.”
Watch the moment below.
Noon: Updated with comment from Jerry Seinfeld.
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