Stewart made the remarks while interviewing Khan on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, which he now hosts every Monday. Khan, a committed antitrust crusader, has turned the FTC into a much more aggressive regulator of excessive corporate consolidation.

“I got to tell you, I wanted to have you on a podcast. And Apple asked us not to do it — to have you,” Stewart told Khan. “They literally said, ‘Please don’t talk to her.’” ...

“They wouldn’t let us do even that dumb thing we just did in the first act on AI. Like, what is that sensitivity? Why are they so afraid to even have these conversations out in the public sphere?” he asked Khan.