Latest news with #political humor
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
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jay Leno Says Late Night Hosts ‘Alienate' Viewers: ‘I Don't Think Anybody Wants to Hear a Lecture'
It was only a matter of time until Jay Leno had something to say — although, whether he said anything actually in response to the dust up at 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' is a little less clear. In an interview posted last week by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, taped two weeks ago, Leno took the current slate of late night hosts to task. 'I got hate letters [when hosting 'The Tonight Show'] saying, 'You and your Republican friends,' and another saying, 'I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' — over the same joke,' Leno related (via THR). '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.' More from IndieWire 'It' Is Back and Derry-er Than Ever: HBO Series Is the Latest in Stephen King Cinematic Universe A Casting Director Asked Steve Buscemi 'What Is Wrong with You?' in Massive Audition Fail Leno continued to explain how, in his day, friends didn't talk about their political positions — even those in the comedic realm. 'Rodney Dangerfield and I were friends. 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,' he said. No matter when it was filmed, the timing of its release would seem deliberate, considering that Stephen Colbert's series has been the subject of 'was it cancelled because of its politics?' rumors since the news broke on July 17 — especially considering the timing of the CBS/Paramount-Skydance merger approval by the Trump Administration's FCC. If Leno still stands by this opinion two weeks later, it would put him on a lonely late night island. Virtually every other figure in the mainstream — from Jimmy Fallon to Jimmy Kimmel to Jon Stewart to previous 'Late Show' host David Letterman — have expressed support for Colbert and lambasted the series' parent company. 'I don't think it was money… it was pure cowardice,' Letterman said on his YouTube channel July 25. 'What the fuck is Skydance, honest to Christ? Is it a discount airline? Is that what it is? I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS, who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is this is gutless. I only wish this could happen to me… Fighting with network television management was number one in the playbook.' But Leno maintains a diverting approach — even in these unusual Trumpian times — from the style adopted by Colbert. '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. I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group — or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support [on one side]. But just do what's funny,' he concluded. Last year on 'The Talk,' Leno said something similar, but seemed to indicate that his style didn't work in the present era. 'Now you kind of have to take a side,' he said (via THR). 'It's a little bit different, but the nice thing about this election is, it was fair. I was not a fan [of Trump], but that's OK. It's the president of the United States. Let's all get together, thank you very much.' Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jay Leno Says Today's Late-Night Hosts ‘Alienate' Half the Audience With Political Jokes ‘Cozying Up to One Side': ‘I Don't Think Anybody Wants to Hear a Lecture'
Jay Leno believes late-night TV comedians have become too politicized — and that they risk losing half the viewing audience by 'cozying up to one side or the other.' 'To me, I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from things, you know, the pressures of life, whatever it might be,' Leno said in a recent interview with David Trulio, president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. 'Now you have to be content with half the audience because you have to give your opinion.' More from Variety Jay Leno Says Jimmy Kimmel 'Humiliated Me' During 2010 'Tonight Show' Interview and 'I Let It Happen. I Didn't Edit It. It Was My Mistake.' Jay Leno Says Election Day Was 'Fair' and 'It Was Honest' After Trump Win: 'It Was a Great Day For Democracy' Jay Leno Recovering From Motorcycle Accident, Two Months After Suffering Serious Burns: Report Leno didn't name names. But the current roster of late-night hosts — Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Seth Meyers and more — has routinely mocked President Trump and the MAGA movement. To be fair, they have also opportunistically lampooned Democrats. Leno's impression is that late-night TV these days skews toward specific political viewpoints. 'I love political humor, don't get me wrong,' the late-night veteran told Trulio. 'But it's just what happens when people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.' Leno asked rhetorically, 'Why shoot for just half an audience all the time? You know, why not try to get the whole. I mean, I like to bring people into the big picture.' Leno's interview with Trulio, formerly Fox News Digital's managing editor and head of strategy and editorial operations, was conducted before CBS announced on July 17 that it was canceling 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.' CBS claimed it was 'purely a financial decision.' The axing of Colbert's show appeared to many critics to be another concession to Trump, coming after CBS parent company Paramount Global agreed to pay the president $16 million to settle what legal experts said was a meritless lawsuit going after '60 Minutes.' After Trump said 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,' Colbert told Trump to 'Go fuck yourself.' On Friday, David Letterman, former 'Late Show' host, slammed the cancellation of Colbert's show as an act of 'pure cowardice' and suggested that Skydance Media (whose takeover of Paramount is set to close next month after the FCC approved the deal) wanted Colbert ousted to avoid problems with the Trump administration. The caption on the Reagan Foundation's YouTube interview clip with Leno, which was posted July 22, says, 'Late-night TV used to be about laughs — not lectures. @jayleno tells us why he never shared his political opinions on The Tonight Show, and why he thinks today's hosts are losing half of America by doing so.' The first part of Trulio's interview with Leno was posted July 9 on YouTube. Part 2, in which Leno 'shares his thoughts on Reagan's comedic brilliance,' was uploaded July 15. Leno hosted 'The Tonight Show' on NBC from 1992 to 2009; Conan O'Brien briefly took the reins of the show before NBC brought Leno back from 2010-14. Leno was the first late-night talk show host to conduct an interview with a sitting president, with President Barack Obama appearing on the show in March 2009. After Trump's victory in the 2024 presidential election, Leno said in an appearance on 'The View' that he was 'not a fan' of Trump but that, 'The nice thing about this election is, it was fair, it was honest…. there was no cheating. Everybody says it was honest. I mean, it's a great day for democracy,' Leno added. In the interview with Leno, Trulio alluded to a study of the comedian's 'Tonight Show' jokes, which Trulio said had found were 'roughly equally balanced between going after Republicans and taking aim at Democrats.' According to a George Mason University analysis released in 2009, on 'The Tonight Show' from 1992-2008, Leno told 4,468 jokes about Bill Clinton, nearly 50% more than George W. Bush (2,999 jokes). Asked by Trulio what his strategy was vis-a-vis political humor, Leno replied, 'It was funny to me when I got hate letters [that said], 'You and your Republican friends' and 'Well, Mr. Leno, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' — over the same joke. And I go, 'Well, that's good. That's how you get a whole audience.'' Leno has previously shared his belief that late-night hosts who have come after him are too one-sided. In 2019, he said on 'The View' that he 'always liked to humiliate and degrade both sides equally.' SEE ALSO: Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week 'Harry Potter' TV Show Cast Guide: Who's Who in Hogwarts? Final Emmy Predictions: Talk Series and Scripted Variety - New Blood Looks to Tackle Late Night Staples Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Jay Leno says political comedy can alienate audiences: ‘I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture'
Jay Leno is happy standing in the middle of the aisle as far as political humor goes. During a recent conversation with David Trulio for The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the former late-night host spoke about some of the risks that can come with mixing politics and comedy. 'I like to think that people come to a comedy show to kind of get away from the things, the pressures of life, wherever it might be,' Leno told Trulio. 'And I love political humor, don't get me wrong, but what happens (is) people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.' Leno then asked, 'Why shoot for just half an audience, 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. Or just don't do it at all,' he said. 'I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just just do what's funny.' His ethos then and now is simply just, 'Funny is funny,' he said, adding, 'I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture.' Leno's interview with Trulio appears to have been conducted prior to CBS announcing the cancellation of 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.' CNN has reached out to a representative for Leno for comment. CBS announced earlier this month that the network was cancelling 'The Late Show,' a late night program that has been on the air since David Letterman hosted it in 1993. Colbert took over as host in 2015. The show will end in the spring of 2026. The network cited financial reasons for the move, but there have been questions about the timing of the announcement given Colbert's previous criticism of President Donald Trump and the recent settlement between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, over a lawsuit involving '60 Minutes.' There were also questions about the move coming amid Skydance Media's $8 billion acquisition of Paramount, which required and recently received approval from federal regulators. Leno hosted 'The Tonight Show' on NBC from 1992 to 2009 before Conan O'Brien took over. Jimmy Fallon has served as host of the program since 2014. Fallon, along with other current late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers, all of whom are known to be critical of the Trump administration on their respective programs, voiced support for Colbert following the CBS announcement.
