Jay Leno Says Late Night Hosts ‘Alienate’ Viewers

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.”

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.”