Latest news with #late-night comedy
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jay Leno Makes His Feelings on Late Night Talk Very Clear
Jay Leno recently shared his opinion on the current late-night comedy landscape, given the current political climate — and he did not hold back. "I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, you know, the pressures of life, whatever it might be,' he told David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. "I love political humor, don't get me wrong, but it's just what happens when people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other." Leno went on to say that he would try to appeal to his whole audience rather than play to one particular side, which is what seems to be happening on many late-night shows. "Why shoot for just half an audience all the time? You know, why not try to get the whole [audience]? I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture. I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny," he said. Leno's comments come about a week after Paramount reached a $16M settlement with President Donald Trump after he filed a lawsuit over how Kamala Harris' interview on 60 Minutes had been edited. On the heels of that news, Colbert's show was canceled. There have been numerous rumors about the decision to bring The Late Show to a close. Aside from the cost of production, it seems as though networks may be moving away from late-night altogether. There have been rumors that Jimmy Kimmel Live! won't be renewed come Leno Makes His Feelings on Late Night Talk Very Clear first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 27, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jay Leno blasts late-night comedy hosts
Jay Leno is taking aim at modern late-night comedy shows, claiming the hosts are isolating half their viewers in an interview released just days after Stephen Colbert got the boot from CBS. The former Tonight Show host, 75, reflected on the shift in late-night culture during a sit-down interview with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation president David Trulio. The candid conversation was taped two weeks ago but was recently shared and quickly circulated online. They spoke openly about comedy, politics, and what's changed in the late-night world. Trulio began by mentioning to Leno that his jokes had a reputation of being equally balanced in his time on air. 'I read that there was an analysis done of your work on "The Tonight Show" for the 22 years and that your jokes were roughly equally balanced between going after Republicans and taking aim at Democrats. Did you have a strategy?' Trulio asked. 'I got hate letters saying, "You and your Republican friends," and another saying, "I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy" – over the same joke,' Leno said. 'That's how you get a whole audience. Now you have to be content with half the audience, because you have to give your opinion.' 'Rodney Dangerfield and I were friends,' continued Leno. 'I knew Rodney 40 years and I have no idea if he was a Democrat or Republican. We never discussed politics, we just discussed jokes.' 'I like to think that people come to a comedy show to get away from the pressures of life. I love political humor – don't get me wrong. But people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.' 'Funny is funny,' Leno said. 'It's funny when someone who's not... when you make fun of their side and they laugh at it, you know, that's kind of what I do.' 'I just find getting out – I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture,' he continued. 'When I was with Rodney, it was always in the economy of words – get to the joke as quickly as possible.' He criticized comedians who inject their political opinions into every monologue and said he preferred making the whole audience laugh rather than pushing an agenda. 'I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture … Why shoot for just half an audience? Why not try to get the whole? I like to bring people into the big picture,' he said. 'I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny.' His comments come in the wake of Colbert's dramatic departure from The Late Show. A media frenzy engulfed The Late Show after Colbert publicly slammed the CBS show's parent corporation, Paramount Global, for settling a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $16 million, calling it a 'big, fat, bribe,' in his opening monologue. Just days after the searing call-out, Colbert told his studio audience that the network was ending The Late Show in May 2026. Speculation has loomed over why the show was canceled, with A-listers and fellow talk-show hosts coming to the comedian's defense. Colbert won an Emmy for his work on The Colbert Report, a satirical show that ran on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014. After he replaced David Letterman on The Late Show, the program was nominated for the most Outstanding Talk Series at the Emmys from 2017 to 2022. Meanwhile, other late-night legends have rallied behind Colbert in the wake of his show's cancellation. Jimmy Fallon said: 'I don't like it. I don't like what's going on one bit. These are crazy times,' Fallon said, referencing how 'everybody [was] talking about' the decision. 'And many people are now threatening to boycott the network', he said, setting up another punchline. 'Yeah – CBS could lose millions of viewers, plus tens of hundreds watching on Paramount+.' David Letterman also backed his successor and suggested CBS canceled The Late Show because he was 'always shooting his mouth off' about Donald Trump. The 78-year-old late-night legend created The Late Show in 1993 after NBC denied him the chance to succeed Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In his first comment on the show's cancellation, Letterman noted that his show was more about political satire than his version of The Late Show but was still complimentary, calling the decision by CBS 'pure cowardice.' 'I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this, they're going to be embarrassed, because this is gutless,' he told former Late Show producers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jay Leno blasts late-night comedy hosts over divisive content as Colbert gets the boot from CBS
Jay Leno is taking aim at modern late-night comedy shows, claiming the hosts are isolating half their viewers in an interview released just days after Stephen Colbert got the boot from CBS. The former Tonight Show host, 75, reflected on the shift in late-night culture during a sit-down interview with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation president David Trulio. The candid conversation was taped two weeks ago but was recently shared and quickly circulated online. They spoke openly about comedy, politics and what's changed in the late-night world. Trulio began by mentioning to Leno that his jokes had a reputation of being equally balanced in his time on air. 'I read that there was an analysis done of your work on 'The Tonight Show' for the 22 years and that your jokes were roughly equally balanced between going after Republicans and taking aim at Democrats. Did you have a strategy?' Trulio asked. 'I got hate letters saying, 'You and your Republican friends,' and another saying, 'I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' - over the same joke,' Leno said. 'That's how you get a whole audience. Now you have to be content with half the audience, because you have to give your opinion.' 'Rodney Dangerfield and I were friends,' Continued Leno. 'I knew Rodney 40 years and I have no idea if he was a Democrat or Republican. We never discussed politics, we just discussed jokes.' 'I like to think that people come to a comedy show to get away from the pressures of life. I love political humor - don't get me wrong. But people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.' 'Funny is funny,' Leno said. 'It's funny when someone who's not….when you make fun of their side and they laugh at it, you know, that's kind of what I do.' 'I just find getting out - I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture,' he continued. 'When I was with Rodney, it was always in the economy of words - get to the joke as quickly as possible.' He criticized comedians who inject their political opinions into every monologue and said he preferred making the whole audience laugh rather than pushing an agenda. 'I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture … Why shoot for just half an audience? Why not try to get the whole? I like to bring people into the big picture,' he said. 'I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny.' His comments come in the wake of Colbert's dramatic departure from The Late Show. A media frenzy engulfed The Late Show after Colbert publicly slammed the CBS show's parent corporation, Paramount Global, for settling a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $16 million, calling it a 'big, fat, bribe,' in his opening monologue. Just days after the searing call-out, Colbert told his studio audience that the network was ending The Late Show in May 2026. Speculation has loomed over why the show was canceled, with A-listers and fellow talk-show hosts coming to the comedian's defense. Colbert won an Emmy for his work on The Colbert Report, a satirical show that ran on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014. After he replaced David Letterman on The Late Show, the program was nominated for the most Outstanding Talk Series at the Emmys from 2017 to 2022. Meanwhile, other late-night legends have rallied behind Colbert in the wake of his show's cancellation. Jimmy Fallon said: 'I don't like it. I don't like what's going on one bit. These are crazy times,' Fallon said, referencing how 'everybody [was] talking about' the decision. 'And many people are now threatening to boycott the network', he said, setting up another punchline. 'Yeah - CBS could lose millions of viewers, plus tens of hundreds watching on Paramount+.' David Letterman also backed his successor and suggested CBS canceled The Late Show because he was 'always shooting his mouth off' about Donald Trump. The 78-year-old late-night legend created The Late Show in 1993 after NBC denied him the chance to succeed Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In his first comment on the show's cancellation, Letterman noted that his show was more about political satire than his version of The Late Show but was still complimentary, calling the decision by CBS 'pure cowardice.' 'I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this, they're going to be embarrassed, because this is gutless,' he told former Late Show producers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay.
CNN
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
All-star roster of comedians show solidarity with Stephen Colbert in first ‘Late Show' after cancellation
Stephen Colbert gained a little help from his friends and late-night rivals on Monday, his first night back on 'The Late Show' since announcing that CBS is ending the legendary show. NBC's Jimmy Fallon, HBO's John Oliver, and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart were among the faces in the 'Late Show' crowd during a spoof of the now-famous 'Coldplay cam.' The fellow comedians didn't speak and they didn't have to: Being there was the point. The 'Late Show' cancellation raised concerns about the future of late-night comedy — and about something bigger. Are big TV networks going to keep supporting political satire and free speech at a time when President Trump's campaign of retribution is rattling corporate America? 'Some people see this show going away as a sign of something truly dire,' Colbert acknowledged Monday night. 'And while I am a big fan of me, I don't necessarily agree with that statement,' he said. 'Because we here at 'The Late Show' never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day.' He also made some jokes about CBS saying the show was ending for 'purely financial' reasons. Through humor, he raised an eyebrow at news reports about the show becoming unprofitable, though he didn't directly dispute that. 'Folks, I'm going to go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone too far,' he quipped. After the 'Coldplay cam' spoof, which was led by Lin-Manuel Miranda and 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Colbert pretended that CBS had just cancelled the song because it lost money. The cameos were a testament to Colbert's long-lasting relationships in the TV industry. Fallon and his NBC colleague Seth Meyers were seated together. Bravo late-night host Andy Cohen sat with his best friend, CNN's Anderson Cooper. Actors Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald were there with Robert Smigel and his Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Beyond the partisan arguments about whether anti-Trump comics are funny is a broader fear about institutions caving to Trump and removing room for dissent. There is a long history of American TV networks giving comics space to poke politicians and even network executives in the eye, despite the potential ramifications. Fans feel that tradition is under threat now. Outside the 'Late Show' studio, the Ed Sullivan Theater, on Monday, pro-Colbert and anti-Trump protesters held up signs criticizing CBS for cancelling the show. One sign read, 'Silencing comedians is no joke.' Another read, 'Colbert forever.' Stewart spoke out about it from his own television perch, 'The Daily Show,' on Monday night. Both shows are owned by the same company, Paramount Global, which has been in a perilous political position in recent months. Colbert catapulted to fame on Stewart's show twenty years ago; the two men have remained friends ever since; and Stewart is now an executive producer of Colbert's 'Late Show,' so he has some visibility into the situation. 'If you're trying to figure out why Stephen's show is ending, I don't think the answer can be found in some smoking gun email or phone call from Trump to CBS executives, or in CBS's QuickBooks spreadsheets on the financial health of late night,' Stewart said on-air. 'I think the answer in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment — institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of our pubic hair-doodling commander in chief,' he said. Stewart, whose 'Daily Show' contract expires at the end of this year, added, 'This is not the moment to give in. I'm not giving in! I'm not going anywhere — I think.' Stewart also had a profane message for Paramount and other media companies: 'If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous, that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar, why will anyone watch you, and you are f***ing wrong.' 'The Late Show' has been a cornerstone of the CBS programming schedule for decades, so fans and industry followers were shocked when the network announced its cancellation last Thursday. Top executives at CBS said it was an 'agonizing' decision but one that was unrelated to 'other matters happening at Paramount.' In other words, the merger. Paramount has been attempting to merge with Skydance Media, which means billions of dollars and some big egos are on the line. However, the deal requires approval from the Trump administration, and the review process has been taking longer than usual, which has raised concerns about political interference. Earlier this month, while Colbert and 'The Late Show' were on a mid-summer break, Paramount settled Trump's legally dubious lawsuit against CBS News by agreeing to pay $16 million toward his future presidential library. The settlement was widely criticized, and Colbert joined the chorus when he returned from vacation last week, likening the payoff to a 'big fat bribe.' Two days after that telecast, Colbert was informed that CBS was retiring 'The Late Show' franchise. The move will take effect next May, when Colbert's contract expires and the broadcast TV season ends. Colbert referred to the settlement again on Monday night's show. He cited the media leaks indicating that the 'Late Show' was losing 'between $40 million and $50 million a year.' 'Forty million's a big number,' Colbert said. 'I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million… oh, yeah.' Meantime, the founding host of 'The Late Show,' David Letterman, weighed in on the franchise's retirement on Monday by publishing to his YouTube channel a 20-minute highlight reel of his past jokes about CBS. The video caption read: 'You can't spell CBS without BS.'
CNN
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
All-star roster of comedians show solidarity with Stephen Colbert in first ‘Late Show' after cancellation
Stephen Colbert gained a little help from his friends and late-night rivals on Monday, his first night back on 'The Late Show' since announcing that CBS is ending the legendary show. NBC's Jimmy Fallon, HBO's John Oliver, and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart were among the faces in the 'Late Show' crowd during a spoof of the now-famous 'Coldplay cam.' The fellow comedians didn't speak and they didn't have to: Being there was the point. The 'Late Show' cancellation raised concerns about the future of late-night comedy — and about something bigger. Are big TV networks going to keep supporting political satire and free speech at a time when President Trump's campaign of retribution is rattling corporate America? 'Some people see this show going away as a sign of something truly dire,' Colbert acknowledged Monday night. 'And while I am a big fan of me, I don't necessarily agree with that statement,' he said. 'Because we here at 'The Late Show' never saw our job as changing anything other than how you felt at the end of the day.' He also made some jokes about CBS saying the show was ending for 'purely financial' reasons. Through humor, he raised an eyebrow at news reports about the show becoming unprofitable, though he didn't directly dispute that. 'Folks, I'm going to go ahead and say it: Cancel culture has gone too far,' he quipped. After the 'Coldplay cam' spoof, which was led by Lin-Manuel Miranda and 'Weird Al' Yankovic, Colbert pretended that CBS had just cancelled the song because it lost money. The cameos were a testament to Colbert's long-lasting relationships in the TV industry. Fallon and his NBC colleague Seth Meyers were seated together. Bravo late-night host Andy Cohen sat with his best friend, CNN's Anderson Cooper. Actors Adam Sandler and Christopher McDonald were there with Robert Smigel and his Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Beyond the partisan arguments about whether anti-Trump comics are funny is a broader fear about institutions caving to Trump and removing room for dissent. There is a long history of American TV networks giving comics space to poke politicians and even network executives in the eye, despite the potential ramifications. Fans feel that tradition is under threat now. Outside the 'Late Show' studio, the Ed Sullivan Theater, on Monday, pro-Colbert and anti-Trump protesters held up signs criticizing CBS for cancelling the show. One sign read, 'Silencing comedians is no joke.' Another read, 'Colbert forever.' Stewart spoke out about it from his own television perch, 'The Daily Show,' on Monday night. Both shows are owned by the same company, Paramount Global, which has been in a perilous political position in recent months. Colbert catapulted to fame on Stewart's show twenty years ago; the two men have remained friends ever since; and Stewart is now an executive producer of Colbert's 'Late Show,' so he has some visibility into the situation. 'If you're trying to figure out why Stephen's show is ending, I don't think the answer can be found in some smoking gun email or phone call from Trump to CBS executives, or in CBS's QuickBooks spreadsheets on the financial health of late night,' Stewart said on-air. 'I think the answer in the fear and pre-compliance that is gripping all of America's institutions at this very moment — institutions that have chosen not to fight the vengeful and vindictive actions of our pubic hair-doodling commander in chief,' he said. Stewart, whose 'Daily Show' contract expires at the end of this year, added, 'This is not the moment to give in. I'm not giving in! I'm not going anywhere — I think.' Stewart also had a profane message for Paramount and other media companies: 'If you believe, as corporations or as networks, you can make yourselves so innocuous, that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king's radar, why will anyone watch you, and you are f***ing wrong.' 'The Late Show' has been a cornerstone of the CBS programming schedule for decades, so fans and industry followers were shocked when the network announced its cancellation last Thursday. Top executives at CBS said it was an 'agonizing' decision but one that was unrelated to 'other matters happening at Paramount.' In other words, the merger. Paramount has been attempting to merge with Skydance Media, which means billions of dollars and some big egos are on the line. However, the deal requires approval from the Trump administration, and the review process has been taking longer than usual, which has raised concerns about political interference. Earlier this month, while Colbert and 'The Late Show' were on a mid-summer break, Paramount settled Trump's legally dubious lawsuit against CBS News by agreeing to pay $16 million toward his future presidential library. The settlement was widely criticized, and Colbert joined the chorus when he returned from vacation last week, likening the payoff to a 'big fat bribe.' Two days after that telecast, Colbert was informed that CBS was retiring 'The Late Show' franchise. The move will take effect next May, when Colbert's contract expires and the broadcast TV season ends. Colbert made reference to the settlement again on Monday night's show. He cited the media leaks indicating that the 'Late Show' was losing 'between $40 million and $50 million a year.' 'Forty million's a big number,' Colbert said. 'I could see us losing $24 million, but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million… oh, yeah.' Meantime, the founding host of 'The Late Show,' David Letterman, weighed in on the franchise's retirement on Monday by publishing to his YouTube channel a 20-minute highlight reel of his past jokes about CBS. The video caption read: 'You can't spell CBS without BS.'
