Jimmy Fallon says he will continue to steer clear of making The Tonight Show too political following Jimmy Kimmel‘s suspension.
In a new interview promoting his new NBC reality competition, On Brand, Fallon was asked how he will navigate his late-night show as tension between the Trump administration rises.
“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,” he said on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street. “Our monologues are kind of the same 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.”
He continued, “I have great writers… clever, smart writers. And we’re just trying to make the best show we possibly can and entertain everybody.”
Kimmel was pulled from ABC after backlash from affiliates over a Charlie Kirk comment in his monologue on September 17. The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! came hours after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened retaliation against Disney on a podcast. Trump is no fan of Kimmel, as the late-night show host has been one of his strongest critics. Most recently, Trump declared that he could pursue legal action against ABC and Disney for alleged violations of campaign finance laws related to having Kimmel on air.
The late-night show returned to ABC days later, drawing more than 6 million viewers, despite Nextar and Sinclair affiliates preempting the show.
Although Fallon has avoided the wrath of Donald Trump, the President of the United States has taken shots at him. After Kimmel was benched from late-night, Trump called Fallon and fellow NBC late-night host Seth Meyers “total losers,” saying their “ratings are horrible,” suggesting to the peacock network to also cancel them.
Watch Fallon’s full interview below.
