Overview

• John Oliver told The Hollywood Reporter he would “take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno,” rejecting Leno’s call for depoliticized late-night humor.
• Oliver said comedy is inherently subjective and should not aim to please everyone, noting that some comics choose a broad appeal while others focus on specific viewpoints.
• He emphasized that Last Week Tonight airs on premium cable without advertiser constraints and concentrates on systemic issues rather than partisan politics.
• Jay Leno recently urged late-night hosts to avoid polarizing political content in order to attract the full audience rather than alienating viewers.
• CBS maintains that its cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was a financial decision unrelated to the show’s political stance, even as industry figures debate the role of politics in comedy.