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Conan O’Brien, the renowned comedian, came to a stark realization about the precarious state of late-night television after his widely-shared stint on the hit online show “Hot Ones.”
During an insightful discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, the former late-night talk show host shared his thoughts on the axing of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and the temporary suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” This followed controversial remarks made in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
O’Brien featured on “Hot Ones” in 2024, a popular YouTube series where celebrities tackle a series of increasingly spicy chicken wings while being interviewed.
His episode has garnered over 15 million views since its release.
“That was the moment everything became clear to me,” O’Brien revealed to The Hollywood Reporter. “When someone can draw World Series-level viewership with a setup that seemed to cost around $600, and when every major star is eager to appear on his show or on Chicken Shop Date, it was then I truly grasped the magnitude of the threat facing traditional late-night shows.”
Colbert, whose program is ending in May, called O’Brien the “patron saint of ex-talk show hosts” and revealed he’d been urging Colbert to quit for years. O’Brien had a near three-decade stint across multiple late-night programs, hosting “Late Night” (1993-2009) and then briefly “The Tonight Show” (2009-2010) on NBC, before moving over to TBS and hosting “Conan” until 2021.
“We were out, a few Emmys ago, and he kept saying, ‘I want you to know there’s a lot of fun to be had when this is over, so don’t feel like you need to stay.’ It almost hurt my feelings, but he was just being kind. He Dutch uncle’d me,” Colbert told The Hollywood Reporter.
Some believe Colbert’s criticism of President Donald Trump played a role in his show ending. Trump’s FCC (Federal Communications Commission), headed by Brendan Carr,had to approve David Ellison’s Skydance Media purchasing CBS parent company Paramount.
O’Brien said, “I’m of the mind that yes, these shows are going away and will become something else.”
However, O’Brien added, “But I don’t like when other malign forces intervene, because they’re trying to curry favor. That pisses me off.”
In September, Kimmel’s late-night show was pulled off the air after his remarks about Kirk’s alleged assassin sparked outrage and a veiled threat from the FCC.
Disney decided to suspend the show after two major affiliate owners pulled airings of Kimmel from their stations, and Kimmel reportedly had told executives he would not apologize for his comments. His show returned following the brief hiatus.
CBS announced last year that Colbert’s show would go off the air this May, citing it as a purely financial decision and denying it had anything to do with the then-looming merger between Paramount and Skydance.
O’Brien, who has stayed active with a podcast and HBO Max show, is hosting the Oscars this Sunday for the second straight year.