Howard Stern is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s side following a comment Jay Leno made about the late-night host.

It was during an interview with the New York Daily News that Jay Leno remarked about Kimmel, saying he’s third place in the late-night ratings because “he’s got a mean streak.”

“It’s funny, I always thought Jimmy Kimmel was the (late night) guy that I was going to be close to,” Jay Leno said during the aforementioned interview. “We have similar blue-collar, Italian roots–but he chose to go after me so he could get into the whole Howard Stern camp and never really understood what it was all about. I think he’s talented, I think he’s funny, but he’s got a mean streak and I think that’s the reason he’s in third place and I think that people sense that.”

Blasting Leno with a declaration of his own, Howard Stern hit back during his radio show.

“No one is more cruel than Jay Leno,” he said. “Jimmy Kimmel is one of the nicest guys on the planet.”

Howard Stern took a bit of an underhanded jab at Leno, too.

.@howardstern blasts #JayLeno for his @jimmykimmel diss: 'No one is more cruel.' http://t.co/qkaLB4O25n pic.twitter.com/6FCavv0yns

— EntertainmentTonight (@etnow) October 8, 2015

“Jay is putting his enormous chin where it doesn’t belong.”

Jimmy Kimmel blasted Jay Leno when he returned to The Tonight Show in 2010 following NBC’s handing the reins to Conan O’Brien, and then taking the show away from him.

Howard Stern firmly believes Leno’s beef with Kimmel is because of his (Kimmel’s) overt respect for David Letterman.

“Jimmy loved Letterman and didn’t like when Jay plotted against him [to become the host of The Tonight Show in 1992],” Howard Stern said.

It’s really all water under that proverbial bridge now–isn’t it? Jay Leno has retired for good from the late night scene, passing the reins on to Jimmy Fallon, who is topping the ratings charts.

Jay Leno “filled in” for Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon earlier this week.

What’s your take on Howard Stern’s comments about Jay Leno? Is he simply a huge Jimmy Kimmel fan who is standing up for his friend–or does he have an old beef with Leno?

Is it possible Howard Stern was simply having a slow news day and opted to diss Jay Leno as a result?