John Oliver's savage two-word response to Jay Leno's criticism of late-night hosts being too political
The 75-year-old comedian had lamented to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation CEO David Trulio on July 22 that the current late-night hosts are too busy pushing their Democratic agenda to entertain a wider audience.
'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,' Jay explained.
'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.'
In response, the British 48-year-old scoffed to THR Magazine on Tuesday: 'I'm going to take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno.'
'Who thinks that way? Executives?' John continued.
'Comedy can't be for everyone. It's inherently subjective. So, yeah, when you do stand-up, some people try to play to a broader audience, which is completely legitimate. Others decide not to, which is equally legitimate.'
Many comics still don't forgive Leno for refusing to retire from late-night after reluctantly handing over The Tonight Show to successor Conan O'Brien in 2009, which lasted seven months before NBC gave the gig right back to Leno.
Oliver - who became an American citizen in 2019 - went on to defend his HBO Max satirical news show, which 'comes from a point of view, but most of those long stories we do are not party political.'
'They're about systemic issues. Our last few shows were about gang databases, AI slop, juvenile justice, med spas, air traffic control,' the investigative journalist listed.
'I'm not saying that these don't have a point of view in them. Of course they do. But I hope a lot of them actually reach across people's political persuasions. You want people to at least be able to agree on the problem, even if you disagree on what the solution to it is.'
On July 21, John joined his former Daily Show boss Jon Stewart, Fallon, Meyers, Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen, and CNN's Anderson Cooper on The Late Show in order to show support for Colbert amid his shocking cancellation.
'As soon as the news broke, we were all checking in with Stephen,' Oliver recalled.
Jay explained: '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 continued: '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' (Strike Force Five's Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmel pictured in 2023)
Oliver recalled: 'As soon as the news broke, we were all checking in with Stephen. He came up with the idea and asked us to come, and of course we're all going to do it. You want to be able to support him and his staff in a horrible, horrible time'
'He came up with the idea and asked us to come, and of course we're all going to do it. You want to be able to support him and his staff in a horrible, horrible time.'
The Kamala Harris supporter called it 'incredibly sad for comedy' but noted: 'We are fortunate enough to be in a very different situation than network commercial TV, so those corporate pressures are not comparable, and we have no pressures from advertisers.'
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