Leno Decries Late-Night Hosts Getting Political After Letterman Blasts 'Gutless' CBS Over Colbert Firing

The once bitter late-night rivals both weighed in after the network's controversial decision to shutter The Late Show after it was created to lure a frustrated Letterman to CBS after NBC chose Leno to replace outgoing Tonight Show legend Johnny Carson with Leno instead of their own Late Night star, Letterman, who'd been following Carson for years.

As it turns out, while Letterman blasted the "pure cowardice" of CBS parent company Paramount in what he (and many others) see as capitulation to the Trump administration to help facilitate the now FCC-approved merger of Paramount and Skydance, Leno has a much simpler message to late-night television: stop being political.

The previous Tonight Show host weighed in on the current state of the late-night climate in a recent interview with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, while the interview portion about late-night television was posted last week, it is possible it was recorded prior to the public announcement of Colbert's firing.

It was timely either way, as Leno was adamant in his belief that late-night television hosts should avoid choosing sides in politics. In fact, he joked that he knew he was successfully towing the line himself as host when he'd get hate mail from both sides.

"I got hate letters saying, 'You and your Republican friends,' and another saying, 'I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' -- over the same joke," he told Foundation president and CEO David Trulio. "That's how you get a whole audience."

In fact, he said it's poor business to choose sides, as he perceives the current late-night hosts to be doing. "Now you have to be content with half the audience, because you have to give your opinion," he said.

Colbert, of course, famously honed his comedic prowess first as a correspondent on Comedy Central's politically-focused The Daily Show and then on his own Colbert Report follow-up that saw him embody a fictional right-wing political blowhard. While he abandoned his faux-conservative persona when he made the jump to network television with The Late Show, Colbert traded it in for his more true liberal-leaning views.

Even beyond Colbert, though, Leno doesn't understand why the more modern late-nlght landscape seems determined to wear their politics on their sleeves all the time. He used the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield as an example of the changing times. He noted they'd been friends for 40 years, adding, "and I have no idea if he was a Democrat or Republican."

"We never discussed politics, we just discussed jokes," he added, explaining, "I like to think that people come to a comedy show to get away from the pressures of life. I love political humor -- don't get me wrong. But people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other."

His conclusion? "I don’t think anybody wants to hear a lecture." He also mused, "Why shoot for just half an audience? Why not try to get the whole?"

"I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group," he continued. "I'm not saying you have to throw your support [to the side]. But just do what's funny."

Some would argue that Colbert is indeed funny, as would the fact that he has emerged as the highest-rated personality in broadcast network late-night, with The Late Show regularly beating Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show.

Meanwhile, Fox News' late-night counterprogram Gutfeld!, which is also politically biased to the right, was recently touted by the network as the highest-rated late-night program across television, beating even Colbert. So politics does bring viewers in today's television climate.

Letterman, meanwhile, takes no issue with the type of comedy Colbert brings to the show he founded, instead saving his ire for the whys and hows behind CBS and Paramount's handling of his legacy.

"I don’t think it was money," the late-night icon said in a new video posted to his YouTube channel this weekend. "This is pure cowardice."

He described Colbert as a "precise, crisp, witty political satirist," noting that he's often targeted "the current administration" over his tenure, which did include taking shots at former President Biden. He also touted Colbert for building his audience and, as Letterman saw it, becoming "the face of the network."

As such, he decried CBS's unceremonious firing of Colbert, saying they did not handle it or Colbert "in the way he deserves to have been handled," after all he's done for the brand and the network.

He also pushed back against the notion that it was a purely financial decision. Critics of the move have noted that it came just days after Colbert was very vocal in talking about reports that Trump had been made aware his name was on the infamous Epstein List his administration later insisted does not exist.

Letterman doesn't appear to be buying the money explanation, either, saying, "If they were losing this kind of money, you’re telling me losing this kind of money happened yesterday?" he mused. "Yeah right. I bet they were losing this kind of money a month ago ... six weeks ago, or they have never been losing money."

As for Colbert himself, Letterman quipped that he "loved this" for him, adding, "He's a martyr." While the show has been canceled, it will still run through May 2026, and Colbert has already been leaning into his unexpected lame-duck status to push even harder into his pointed political comedy.

Letterman even noted the upcoming 10 months as just further proof that this isn't just cost-cutting, as wouldn't that mean they'll continue to lose money over the next year? If it's purely financial, would it not be better to cut that loose immediately (though contracts and possible penalties could be a factor there).

"I don't think it's money," Letterman said on the video clip. Joking that the "Ellison twins" were involved in buying Paramount, he joked that "they don't want any problems with freedom of the press or freedom of expression. They don't want to get their hands dirty. They don't want the government going after them because, you know, that concept of freedom of the press and freedom of speech is so old-fashioned."

Ultimately, he said emphatically, "This is pure cowardice," relating it to the recent settlement between the network's 60 Minutes and the Trump administration over how a Kamala Harris interview was edited -- despite industry professionals asserting that they'd done nothing wrong there.

"You're telling me that 60 Minutes, the pinnacle of journalistic excellence and integrity for decades -- and for many of those decades, the number-one viewed show in America -- they've decided, 'Ah, we're sorry, let us give you $20 million and we'll be more careful,'" Letterman marveled doubtfully.

"I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS, who have manipulated and handled this are going to be embarrassed because this is this is gutless," he added.