Howard Stern Speaks Out After Jerry Seinfeld Critiques His Comedy Skills

Howard Stern is finally weighing in on Jerry Seinfeld putting his comedy skills on blast by saying he isn't actually very funny -- and according to him, it's all water under a bridge.

The radio legend says he was genuinely shocked and confused by Jerry's POV when he first read the headline -- especially considering they were really good friends -- but when Jerry called to apologize ... Howard says he was totally ready to forgive him.

Speaking on "The Howard Stern Show," he says ... "I read it [Jerry's comments], and I went, 'Oh, that's weird,' because Jerry is a personal friend of ours. Especially his wife, Jessica [Seinfeld], is really good friends with Beth [Stern]."

HS adds that when Jerry called to explain his comments came out wrong, he told him he didn't really care about it at all, everything was A-OK, and his remorse wasn't needed. But since he relentlessly kept apologizing, he accepted it.

In fact, JS was so torn up about it that he wanted to come on Howard's show to apologize in person. But Howard told him, "Not necessary, I don't wanna get into it ... it's fine.'"

Howard himself knows the feeling of saying regretful stuff on air ... saying he told Jerry he's had to apologize for insulting someone he liked or was a fan of plenty of times.

You'll recall ... earlier this month, Jerry said on David Spade and Dana Carvey's podcast, "Fly on the Wall," he didn't think Howard was all that funny in the age of modern podcasting, suggesting he'd been left in the dust by all the competition of today.