The world of late night TV was thrown into sudden upheaval when CBS announced The Late Show’s cancellation, which sparked shocked reactions from Hollywood celebs, and was soon followed by the FCC’s long-gestating approval of Skydance’s merger with Paramount Global. So when Jay Leno’s comments on late night’s reliance on political humor caught my eye, I thought they were made in response to Stephen Colbert’s current situation, but was surprised to learn they actually predated the Late Show news.
Leno sat with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute’s President and CEO David Trulio for an interview that, among other topics, covered the stand-up comedian’s personal relationship with former President Reagan. The conversation also revolved quite a bit around the car enthusiast’s long-harbored aversion to going hard on political commentary during his run as The Tonight Show’s host. Despite always softballing such comedy, Leno joked that he still managed to stoke anger from both sides, saying:
