It comes after Leno mentioned he believes late-night reveals are alienating viewers by being too political, including that he tried to maintain his ‘Tonight Present’ jokes “politically impartial.”
John Oliver isn’t searching for recommendation from Jay Leno.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Oliver clapped again at Leno’s view that present late-night discuss present hosts are alienating viewers by highlighting their political opinions.
“I will take a tough cross on taking comedic recommendation from Jay Leno,” Oliver informed the publication in an interview printed on Tuesday, earlier than explaining how “comedy cannot be for everybody.”
“It is inherently subjective,” Oliver defined.
“So, yeah, while you do stand-up, some folks attempt to play to a broader viewers, which is totally reputable,” he continued. “Others resolve to not, which is equally reputable. I suppose I do not suppose it is a query of what it’s best to do as a result of I do not suppose comedy is prescriptive in that approach. It is simply what folks need.”
Oliver has hosted Final Week Tonight since 2014 and emphasizes that he would not solely concentrate on political points throughout the HBO present.
“I believe our present clearly comes from a viewpoint, however most of these lengthy tales we do will not be occasion political,” he mentioned. “They’re about systemic points. Our previous few reveals had been about gang databases, AI slop, juvenile justice, med spas, air visitors management.”
“I am not saying that these do not have a viewpoint in them. In fact, they do,” he conceded. “. However I hope a whole lot of them really attain throughout folks’s political persuasions. You need folks to at the very least have the ability to agree on the issue, even in the event you disagree on what the answer to it’s.”
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Throughout an interview in July with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Basis & Institute, Leno shared his view on the present late-night present roster.
He claimed that he aimed to maintain his jokes politically impartial throughout his tenure on The Tonight Present, which he hosted from 1992 to 2009 and once more from 2010 to 2014.
“It was enjoyable to me after I bought hate letters: ‘You and your Republican associates’ [or] ‘Nicely, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are glad’ … over the identical joke,” he mentioned.
“I am going, ‘Nicely, that is good.’ That is the way you get a complete viewers. Now it’s important to be content material with half the viewers as a result of it’s important to give your opinion,” he continued, arguing that late-night hosts are too one-sided.
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The 75-year-old would not consider “anyone desires to listen to a lecture.”
“I like political humor, do not get me flawed, however what occurs is folks wind up cozying an excessive amount of to 1 facet or the opposite,” he defined.
His views come after CBS introduced The Late Present with Stephen Colbert might be ending subsequent yr.
In a press release launched on Thursday, CBS introduced its plans to “retire” The Late Present franchise in Might 2026 after greater than three a long time. The community claimed it is “purely a monetary resolution,” and never “associated in any strategy to the present’s efficiency, content material or different issues occurring at Paramount,” seemingly referring to Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump, which Stephen Colbert criticized and known as “a giant fats bribe” just some days earlier.
