Vince Vaughn: Late-night shows aren’t popular because the hosts are too political

I wouldn’t call myself a long-time Vince Vaughn fan or VV watcher, but I have been well aware of his stupid politics for many years. In fact, his politics were one of the reasons why I stopped being a fan of his work. Vaughn is not self-proclaimed MAGA, but last year, he went to the Trump White House and did a photo-op with that fascist pig. Previously, Vaughn has claimed to be libertarian and he’s claimed that he doesn’t get into politics – spoken like a privileged white man who supports Donald Trump. All of this is backstory for Vince Vaughn’s comments on Theo Von’s podcast, where Vaughn spoke about why so many late-night shows are crumbling.

Vince Vaughn isn’t a big fan of the direction of late night talk shows in recent years when it comes to politics. The actor and producer made an appearance on a new episode of Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, where he criticized the programs for becoming “the same show” that are “really agenda-based.”

While Vaughn didn’t name any shows or comedians specifically, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon are some of the current late night hosts who are known to get quite political and criticize President Donald Trump on their respective shows.

“A lot of the late shows have struggled,” Von initially pointed out. “Because the only person they could make fun of at a certain point was just like white redneck kind of people. And it f–king tanked [ratings].”

The Wedding Crashers star agreed with the podcaster, adding, “See, they never get it right. The podcasts have gotten so much more popular with less production, less writers [and] less staff, because people want authenticity. And I think that the talk shows, to a large part, became really agenda-based.”

“They were gonna evangelize people to what they thought,” he continued, “And so people just rejected it because it didn’t feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny, and it started feeling like I was in a f–king class I didn’t want to take.”

Vaughn attributed late night show’s declining ratings to them “all [becoming] the same show. However, changing viewing habits and competition from digital platforms have also contributed to the significant drops in viewership. “They all became so about their politics and who’s good and who’s bad,” the Couples Retreat actor added. “Imagine sitting next to someone like that on a fcking plane. You’d be like, how do I get out of this fcking seat?”

[From THR]

The thing is, there’s one legitimate point being made buried underneath all of the bullsh-t. That point? The late-show framework of “a white male host telling political jokes to the audience” has sort of outlived its usefulness overall, especially with younger viewers. Maybe I’m giving Vince too much credit by trying to finesse that argument out of what he said though – Vince is actually just arguing that people are tuning out because Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert are being mean to a dementia-addled fascist. Someone call the waaaambulance, the man on the TV is being mean to my favorite orange predator!! Honestly though, it’s not that late-show hosts are wrong or bad to talk about politics, it’s that the politics themselves are toxic and evil under Trump. How can comedians even try to process what to say when Border Patrol agents murder citizens in the street, or Trump blows up the economy and starts a bunch of dumbass wars for no f–king reason?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, White House Instagram.

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22 Responses to “Vince Vaughn: Late-night shows aren’t popular because the hosts are too political”

  1. Mel says:

    I can’t stand that man.

  2. JanetDR says:

    Late night talk shows are topical and political and funny, which is a hard reach these days. Vince can be quiet because he is adding nothing!

    • HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

      Linear television as a format is being replaced by other forms of media. We all know this. But what Vince is ignoring – deliberately – in his comments is the fact that with YouTube, the ratings of Kimmel, Colbert, and Meyers are still strong. Their viewership is just not being tracked in a way that is perceived to help the old big 3 networks. And the only people that find those 3 shows unfunny are the people who are on side with the fascists.

  3. SunnyDays says:

    Well, one gets the face they deserve, don’t they

  4. FYI says:

    Wow. He looks awful.

  5. Sue says:

    Yeah? When was the last time you were popular, Vince? About 20 years ago?

  6. LOLA says:

    Late night talk shows and their hosts are one of the few things keeping me sane right now!

    I don’t usually chime in with whatever I think about celebrities and their views when it comes to politics, partly because I want to keep my energy for actually helping causes I believe in, but Vince can f**k right off into oblivion. Put him on the next space capsule.

    • Happyoften says:

      That is where I’m at. Someone piping up and saying “this isn’t normal” is kinda necessary right now. Which is why they are working so hard to shut these hosts up.

  7. Jais says:

    The bigger issue, from what I can tell from my non expert pov, is that young people are tuning into tik tok or YouTube more than late night. And that’s one reason why Fallon, although not having the highest ratings, does okay bc his bits translate well to tik tok and YT and he gets additional views on those platforms. It’s much more that than anything having to do with politics.

    • PunkyMomma says:

      Spot on, Jais.

      I’m old enough to remember Johnny Carson making political jokes. Carson made no effort to censor comedians appearing on his show that would take a swipe at a politician. Robin Williams absolutely skewed Ronald Reagan once on The Tonight Show and Carson cold not stop laughing.

      • kirk says:

        Speaking of Johnny Carson, a possible reason for declining ratings may be that in Carson’s day there was one late-night king for easy watching, whereas now there are three – all of them white males. And as Jais noted, people are watching YT the next day at a more convenient time. Maybe late-night viewing decline is a corollary of a populace seeking more healthful habits, like reducing their drinking. Notice I’ve posited alternative theories here as possible causes, rather than making an untested definitive statement like the star of the ‘Psycho’ remake who clearly has “an agenda.”

  8. Corrine says:

    Trump gives a press conference and says something stupid. Later that same day, Seth Meyers repeats Trump’s exact comments and says, boy is he stupid. There’s no parody or satire, it’s just a recap. The formula is tired and all it does it keep Trump in the news.

  9. Constance says:

    And what’s the reason for your lack of popularity lol

  10. Kittenmom says:

    This guy is such a tool. Not surprised he is a Trumper.

  11. Elle says:

    People often turn to tv to get away from politics – if I wanted to watch the news, I’d watch the news. I don’t want a recap of the news. I want clever, funny, original content if I’m not watching the news. These days when we get news alerts on our phones, when we all check or watch the actual news, read the news – I don’t want to listen to someone in Hollywood’s opinion on current events for the most part. I want a break.

  12. B Overland says:

    OK Vince… another right wing has-been trying to get into the daily feeds by chirping in support of the Orange Rapist.

  13. Wednesday Addams says:

    I loved him in Clay Pigeons, but it was downhill from there.

  14. CJW says:

    I can’t stand this man. Personally I don’t understand why he is getting jobs, he’s a shit actor, he always plays the same dumb character. And he is in no way pleasant to look at. Ugly inside and out.

  15. To him I say STFU!!!!!!!

  16. Anna says:

    I hate to agree with VV but we had missed opportunities with shows like Nightly with Larry Wilmore. People are going online to find the DIVERSITY that you can’t find in more expensive programs. Josh Johnson was a great Tiktok find

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