Why Jon Stewart Called Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary An 'A**hole' On The Daily Show
Jon Stewart has returned to host "The Daily Show" with a catch: He's only hosting the comedy news series on Monday nights. However, the comedian is making the most of his limited appearances. On the March 25 episode, Stewart drew attention to former President Donald Trump's continuing legal issues, including his New York fraud case. It wasn't just Trump who earned Stewart's ire on that installment of "The Daily Show," as he also played clips from various media personalities calling Trump's crime "victimless" — including "Shark Tank" host Kevin O'Leary.
In the video, O'Leary commented on the ruling, saying, "That didn't go over very well with the investment community because we're all asking each other, 'Who's next?'" Suffice it to say, Stewart doesn't really feel bad about any investors who artificially inflate their net worth to secure bigger loans. While several different figures were in the media package, Stewart railed against O'Leary, in particular, declaring, "I am surprised to hear this from Kevin O'Leary, the guy who's such an a**hole that even the other people on 'Shark Tank' think he's an a**hole."
O'Leary has earned a reputation for being somewhat ... cantankerous. In a heated "Shark Tank" moment that pushed the sharks too far, Mark Cuban referred to O'Leary as an "idiot" after an argument over honesty with budding entrepreneurs. Additionally, while on the "Impaulsive" podcast, O'Leary relayed a story of being called an "a**hole" at a urinal.
Jon Stewart pointed out Kevin O'Leary's hypocrisy
Jon Stewart and the team at "The Daily Show" aren't typically content with calling someone names and leaving it at that, and this was no exception. Stewart then proceeds to show a montage of "Shark Tank" clips in which Kevin O'Leary tears into business owners who overvalue their own companies. The idea is that if O'Leary is this mad over people overvaluing something on a TV show, then he should be furious about Donald Trump overvaluing his properties, such as claiming he had a 30,000 square foot penthouse as opposed to its actual size — 11,000 square feet — to secure a loan.
Stewart declares, "How is [O'Leary] not this mad about overvaluations in the real world? Because they are not victimless crimes." As Stewart points out, Trump getting more money for a loan means there's less money for someone else, and that other person or entity may have been more honest in stating their actual real estate value. It's not a victimless crime. "The Daily Show" then throws to another soundbite from O'Leary's CNN interview: "Everything that you just listed off is done by every real estate developer everywhere on Earth in every city. This has never, ever been prosecuted."
This statement leads Stewart to call out O'Leary's "F***ing entitled arrogance." "The Daily Show" has made it a habit to call out hypocrisy, which seems to be on full display here, with several people, outside of O'Leary, who believe Trump shouldn't face any consequences. And yet, somehow they think individuals who provide false information to secure food stamps should be persecuted wholeheartedly. Ultimately, the clips shown on "The Daily Show" illustrate how Kevin O'Leary's "Mr. Wonderful" nickname could be seen as more sarcastic than anything.