Jay Leno Denies Saying That Late Night Hosts Shouldn’t be Political
Jay Leno doesn’t think that comedians should make their personal politics known, which explains why he recently guested on a show hosted by the famously apolitical Adam Carolla.
Leno just popped by The Adam Carolla Show to talk about his life, career and collection of vintage death traps. The pair also discussed the ex-Tonight Show host’s recent headline-making comments about the state of late-night comedy.
Leno explained that he had been asked to speak with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute. “So then the interviewer says, ‘How did you and Johnny handle politics?’” he told Carolla. “I said, ‘Well, we made fun of both sides. You know, we never picked a side, nobody could figure out our politics.’ That’s all I say.”
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“Okay, about three weeks later, Colbert gets fired,” Leno continued. “And the headline is ‘Leno Lashes Out at Colbert.’ I didn’t! And then I got every comic calling me names and saying, ‘Why did you say (that)?’ I didn’t say it, they always do that in the press.”
It’s true that the interview was actually taped weeks before the Colbert firing, meaning that Leno’s comments were taken out of context by some outlets. But he’s still wildly mischaracterizing his past comments.
For one thing, this discussion began, not with a conversation about Carson’s politics, but with a question about Leno’s “advice for comedians today,” which included Leno’s criticism that comics “wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.” When the interviewer asked about whether or not comedy could help Americans find “common ground,” Leno stated, “I don’t think anyone wants to hear a lecture.”
The Reagan guy then pointed out that Leno’s apolitical approach must have worked, given his success, which is when Leno asked, “Why shoot for just half an audience all the time? I don’t understand why you’d alienate one particular group, just do what’s funny.”
Speaking with Carolla, Leno said that he didn’t refute the bad press, not because everything he said was publicly available online, but because he refuses to feud with other comics. “I never mention another comedian in a disparaging way,” he claimed. “I just don’t, I just ignore it. When all the guys were attacking me and stirring all this (up). I just said, ‘Yeah. I just let it go. It’s fine. It’s fine. My attitude in show business is they don’t believe the good stuff or the bad stuff.”
Of course, a lot of the “bad stuff” is pretty well-documented.
