Jimmy Fallon is trying to steer clear of the political byways when it comes to his late-night show.
Hosting The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC since 2014, the 51-year-old comedian has been navigating the rising tensions in the Trump administration. In the wake of fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel being briefly suspended by ABC owing to his controversial comments on Charlie Kirk’s death, U.S. President Donald Trump had suggested revoking the license of the TV Networks.
Appearing on an interview to promote his new NBC reality competition, On Brand, Fallon was asked about how he would tackle the new chain of events under Trump’s administration that may put his career into jeopardy.
According to Deadline, Fallon said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, “Our show has never really been that political, you know. We hit both sides equally, and we try to make everybody laugh, and that’s really the way our show works. Our monologues are kind of the same ones that we’ve been doing since Johnny Carson was hosting the Tonight Show. So really, I just keep my head down and make sure the jokes are funny.”
Appreciating his team, Fallon continued to say, “I have great writers… clever, smart writers. And we’re just trying to make the best show we possibly can and entertain everybody.”
Although the late-night show host stressed the apolitical stance of his show, he did acknowledge the recent turn of events that almost killed his fellow comedian’s career. He said, “Well, guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF? What’s going on?” in the opening seconds of his monologue, according to PEOPLE.
View this post on Instagram
Not just that, but he also shared a funny anecdote wherein his father thought that he was cancelled. He said, “This morning I woke up to 100 text messages from my dad saying, ‘I’m sorry they canceled your show.’ And I go, ‘That’s not me!’ That’s Jimmy Kimmel!”
He revealed that at that point, he didn’t “know what’s going on.” Be that as it may, he admitted that Kimmel is “a decent, funny, and loving guy” and continued to add, “And I hope he comes back.”
Before breaking into a skit, Fallon remarked, “A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say, or that we’ll be censored. But I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the U.K. just like I normally would.”
Quipping about his namesake, the host reminded his viewers that they were watching the wrong Jimmy if they wanted to hear Kimmel’s comments about his comeback on September 23.
On September 17, Jimmy Kimmel was reportedly pulled from ABC in the wake of his comments on Charlie Kirk’s death. According to Deadline, the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Hours followed after FCC chairman Brendan Carr warned of a potential regulatory action against Disney on a podcast.
Be that as it may, Kimmel’s show returned to ABC days later, which proved to be a benefit for him, attracting 6 million viewers. Despite the situation normalizing gradually, Fallon finds himself in a bit of a quandary. According to PEOPLE, in July, the US President predicted on Truth Social that Fallon’s show would be cancelled, in the wake of the news that Stephen Colbert’s late-night show would not be returning after its 10th and final season.
Trump wrote on the social media platform, “The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone.”
“These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it,” he added.