In light of Jimmy Kimmel’s brief suspension, fellow late night host Jimmy Fallon has shared his thoughts on how he wants things to run at “The Tonight Show.”
While appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street,” Fallon was asked about the past “eventful couple of weeks” in late night programming during a discussion about his new reality series, “On Brand.” The show’s host then inquired whether Fallon had given any thought to how he plans to structure his program going forward.
“Our show’s never really been that political. We hit both sides equally, and we try to make everybody laugh, and that’s really the way our show really works,” Fallon said. “Our monologues are kind of the same that we’ve been doing since Johnny Carson was doing ‘The Tonight Show.’ So, really, I just keep my head down and make sure the jokes are funny.”
Fallon went on to champion his staff, saying that he has “great writers, clever, smart writers.”
His remarks come after Kimmel’s show returned from a six-day suspension following backlash from conservatives over his comments about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Shortly after Kimmel was suspended, Fallon said on his show, “To be honest with you all. I don’t know what’s going on and no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel. And he’s a decent, funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back.”
Kimmel made his return to late night on Sept. 23. The following day, ABC reported that the broadcast attracted 6.3 million viewers and earned over 26 million views on various social media platforms.