Jimmy Fallon does not want to be Donald Trump’s next late-night target. The host took an opportunity yesterday to affirm that The Tonight Show is not very political, a clear effort to dodge Trump’s wrath.
Fallon appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday to discuss his new unscripted series On Brand, and was asked by host Carl Quintanilla if he’s thinking about what he can put in a monologue and what it’s like being on an FCC-licensed “avenue of broadcasting.”
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“Our show has never really been that political. We hit both sides equally, and we try to make everybody laugh, and that’s really the way our show really works,” Fallon said. “Our monologues are kind of the same that we’ve been doing since Johnny Carson was doing The Tonight Show. So really, I just keep my head down and make sure the jokes are funny.”
He added, “I have great writers, clever, smart writers. And we’re just trying to make the best show we possibly can and entertain everybody.”
Fallon has famously played both sides on The Tonight Show, taking digs at both Trump and former president Joe Biden. In 2016, Fallon invited Trump to appear on the late-night show. The appearance featured a bit where Fallon was allowed to mess up Trump’s hair, a moment that went viral and drew harsh criticism for attempting to humanize him too much.
Fallon discussed the backlash in a lengthy New York Times interview the following year, saying he wanted to simply “have fun” with a guest. “I didn’t do it to humanize him,” he said. “I almost did it to minimize him. I didn’t think that would be a compliment: ‘He did the thing that we all wanted to do.’”
After the brouhaha, Fallon took an Internet break to avoid the nasty feedback. But even if the criticism “devastated” him, he remains confident in his show’s style: “I don’t want to be bullied into not being me, and not doing what I think is funny,” he said. “Just because some people bash me on Twitter, it’s not going to change my humor or my show.”
Fallon did voice his support for Jimmy Kimmel after Jimmy Kimmel Live was suspended, but he has avoided taking any real digs at Trump or the FCC. “I don’t know what’s going on,” Fallon noted during his monologue on The Tonight Show after Kimmel was pulled from ABC. “And no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back.”
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