Former ‘Tonight Show’ Host, Jay Leno, Criticizes Late Night Hosts Like Stephen Colbert For Being Too Political: “I Don’t Think Anybody Wants To Hear A Lecture”

Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is weighing in on the recent controversy surrounding late night television.

I don’t know if you would call it a “controversy” as much as you could call it a “decline.” If you were looking for a sign that late night television programs were on life support, Stephen Colbert getting fired – and The Late Show ending altogether – is your sign. In a shocking development, CBS announced they were canceling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and they released this statement when they made the news public earlier in July:

“We consider Stephen Colbert irreplaceable and will retire ‘The Late Show’ franchise in May of 2026. We are proud that Stephen called CBS home. He and the broadcast will be remembered in the pantheon of greats that graced late night television.  This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.  It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”

As you can see, CBS cited financial reasons for canceling Colbert, but the timing led many public figures – like Senator Elizabeth Warren – to question if the cancelation was politically motivated. After all, CBS and Paramount just paid a $16 million settlement to Donald Trump after he sued them for editing Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview to make her look better during her 2024 presidential run, and then Colbert blasted the network for it.

It’s no secret that programs like The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! aren’t the juggernauts that they used to be. Network television used to be the end goal… now it’s falling behind, and struggling to keep up with modern media. Still though, Colbert was outpacing his late night competitors, and it wasn’t particularly close. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert averaged 2.42 million viewers per night, while Jimmy Kimmel Live! posted 1.7 million nightly viewers, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon had around 1.2 million.

That’s why it was so shocking.

Because the numbers don’t necessarily add up, and the timing around the settlement and Colbert’s criticism of it can’t be ignored, many are making this out to be a political story. And Stephen Colbert was undoubtedly left-leaning with his show, so it very well could have played a factor. But honestly, this could just be the first step in an eventual collective move by networks away from the late night format.

And someone who used to sit atop the throne of late night, Jay Leno, thinks that politics could have definitely played a role in Colbert and The Late Show getting axed. Leno hosted The Tonight Show for 17 years – first from 1992 to 2009, then from 2010 until 2014 (the second stint is when he screwed over Conan O’Brien).

In a recent interview with The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, the man who has been out of late night for over a decade now thinks that the product has worsened across the board because too many of the hosts lean one way (left) too often:

“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. 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. I don’t think anybody wants to hear a lecture.”

He’s probably got a point there. Late night television used to send you off to bed with a laugh… not a political lecture.

Leno went on to say that modern day late night hosts are not speaking to America as a whole. They are only developing material that satiates one side of the political spectrum, and the former Tonight Show host thinks that everyone – hosts, networks and audiences alike – could benefit from just focusing on what’s funny:

“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. I’m not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what’s funny.”

The post Former ‘Tonight Show’ Host, Jay Leno, Criticizes Late Night Hosts Like Stephen Colbert For Being Too Political: “I Don’t Think Anybody Wants To Hear A Lecture” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.