John Oliver says he’s not taking “Comedic advice” from Jay Leno following late-night show criticism

John Oliver, 48, has responded to Jay Leno's, 75, recent remarks on late-night shows by firmly stating he would not be taking "comedic advice" from the former Tonight Show host.

Leno had expressed that modern late-night programs are too political and not as fun as they once were. In response, Oliver, known for his sharp political satire on Last Week Tonight, voiced his opinions during a recent interview.

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published on August 5, 2025, Oliver fired back at Leno's statement, noting,

"I’m going to take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno."

With the host asking, "Should these shows still try to be for everyone, or is that as antiquated as the tanning bed?" he answered strikingly,

"Who thinks that way? Executives? Comedy can’t be for everyone. It’s inherently subjective. So, yeah, when you do stand-up, some people try to play to a broader audience, which is completely legitimate."

John Oliver reflected on Jay Leno's recent comments on late-night shows

Addressing the fact that comedy is more individualistic, he explained,

" Others decide not to, which is equally legitimate. I guess I don’t think it’s a question of what you should do because I don’t think comedy is prescriptive in that way. It’s just what people want. I think our show clearly comes from a point of view, but most of those long stories we do are not party political. They’re about systemic issues."

While presenting his perspectives and responses to Jay Leno's criticism, John Oliver recalled his last few shows and the socially significant ideas they were based on. Recounting a variety of diverse episodes, he further continued,

"Our last few shows were about gang databases, AI slop, juvenile justice, med spas, air traffic control. I’m not saying that these don’t have a point of view in them. Of course they do. But I hope a lot of them actually reach across people’s political persuasions. You want people to at least be able to agree on the problem, even if you disagree on what the solution to it is."

Later in the conversation, John was also asked to speak about "a version of a late-night show that succeeds on streaming" and whether the notion is replicable. While detailing the interesting concept, he admitted to having no idea.

He also shared,

"[Late New York Times media columnist] David Carr said something so nice at the end of our first year. He’d liked our show, and he said to me, 'If you had described this show to me before I saw it, I would’ve said it sounded terrible.' It was so honest; I’ve never forgotten it. Because I don’t think, on the page, our show sounds very good. I mean, we’re doing, like, 40 minutes on juvenile justice."

As the concept is not exactly a commercial approach, he spoke about not knowing that one can "emulate this success." Identifying it as a probable mistake, Oliver later elaborated,

"No, it doesn’t. So I don’t know that you can emulate this success. I think it might’ve been a mistake or a lightning strike. I just don’t know that this is scalable. But I’d really like late night to exist in some form somewhere. My favorite thing is when you can have things that both have a strong point of view and are incredibly stupid. Seth [Meyers], last week, did some great shows, and he also did an amazing segment about how to pronounce 'croissant."

The conversation and John's reactions sparked after Jay Leno opened up about his views on late-night shows while conversing with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute last month. His association with The Tonight Show spanned over two distinct periods, from 1992 to 2009 and later, from 2010 to 2014. Recounting the updates and concepts back in the day, the veteran host shared, as Us Weekly cited,

"It was fun to me when I got hate letters: 'You and your Republican friends' [or] 'Well, I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy' … over the same joke. I go, ‘Well, that’s good.’ That’s how you get a whole audience."

Avoiding a political alignment, he discussed today's landscape of late-night shows and how the content has shifted over time. Explaining the contrasting references, he further chimed in,

"Now you have to be content with half the audience because you have to give your opinion. I don’t think anybody wants to hear a lecture. I love political humor, don’t get me wrong, but what happens is people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other."

Voicing questions about filming episodes without an entire crowd of spectators, Jay asked,

"Why shoot for half an audience? Why not try to get the whole? I like to bring people into the big picture. I don’t understand why you would alienate one particular group. Or just don’t do it at all. I’m not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what’s funny."

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