Jimmy Fallon Hugs Guest Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld After Trump Cancellation Threats – Fans React
Jimmy Fallon hosted an unexpected guest on Thursday’s (August 7) episode of The Tonight Show as rival late-night host and Fox News favorite Greg Gutfeld joined him on the sofa.
While Gutfeld has hosted his own titular late-night show on cable since 2015, his appearance on The Tonight Show marked the conservative comedian’s late-night broadcast debut. Gutfeld was on the show to promote his new Fox Nation game show, What Did I Miss?, in which contestants are sequestered for 90 days and then quizzed on whether recent news headlines are real or fake.
After greeting each other with a big hug, the pair mostly kept the conversation away from politics, instead reminiscing about their first meeting 15 years earlier. “You have no memory of it, which is understandable because we were both wasted,” Gutfeld said, explaining how they met at a mutual friend’s “illegal speakeasy” in Hell’s Kitchen.
Gutfeld also opened up about his career, revealing he was “fired a lot” before landing his gig at Fox News. “You think firing is bad? It’s the best thing in the world… you always end up someplace better,” he shared. This led to him hosting the show Red Eye on Fox News, where he was able to hire his mother as a “senior correspondent,” explaining her job was to watch Fox News during the day and let him know what was happening.
While they mostly avoided political talk, President Donald Trump did come up once during the conversation. As Gutfeld was explaining the concept of his new show and how the contestants have to guess whether news headlines are true or false, he quipped, “With Trump, you can’t tell.”
Despite airing on cable, Gutfeld! continues to dominate the late-night ratings wars, topping its broadcast rivals — although it does air over an hour earlier in primetime at 10/9c. For the second quarter of 2025, the Fox News show averaged 3.289 million viewers, compared to The Late Show with 2.417 million, Jimmy Kimmel Live! with 1.772 million, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with 1.188 million.
In July, Stephen Colbert announced that CBS had canceled The Late Show, with its final episode set to air in May 2026. While the network cited financial reasons, others have speculated that the decision was made due to Colbert’s criticism of Paramount’s recent settlement with Donald Trump. This comes amid Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance, which requires regulatory approval from the Trump administration.
Trump has continued to gloat over Colbert’s firing and has warned that Fallon and Kimmel will be next. At a White House press conference on Wednesday (August 6), the President said, “Fallon has no talent. Kimmel has no talent. They’re next. They’re going to be going. I hear they’re going to be going. I don’t know, but I would imagine because they get… you know, Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon.”
Reactions to Gutfeld’s appearance on The Tonight Show were mixed, with some accusing Fallon of sucking up to Trump to help save his show from potential cancellation.
“Fallon sees the writing on the wall. Doesn’t want to go the way of Colbert,” wrote one YouTube commenter.
“Greg Gutfeld was on Jimmy Fallon tonight, a pathetic example of desperate groveling to the MAGA media machine,” said an X user. “They were yucking it up about his Fox Nation reality TV show and Fallon told him “your mom is proud of you, congrats on everything you’ve accomplished. It’s amazing.”
“The Roots must have been wondering if they entered a MAGA twilight zone,” said another, referencing The Tonight Show’s house band.
Another added, “Jimmy Fallon hosted Greg Gutfeld and Good Charlotte tonight? pathetic, why couldn’t that show get cancelled by our right wing corporate overlords.”
However, others praised Fallon for having Gutfeld on the show, with one YouTube user writing, “Must respect for having Gutfeld on as a guest. Cultural left mixing with cultural right is one of the best ways to reunite the country.”
“Well done, Jimmy! So glad you invited Greg on. Took courage to do that. I hope you get a chance to guest on Gutfeld’s show one night,” said another.
“Respect to Jimmy for actually inviting guests and have fun conversations and not make it political,” another added.
“I’m here for the king of late-night Gutfeld, but Jimmy has my respect for this,” wrote one commenter.
What did you think of Gutfeld’s appearance on The Tonight Show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, NBC
Conversation56 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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My partner and I watch Gutfeld every night. It was refreshing to see him on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It's about time we get back to more laughing on late night 'comedy' and ditch the biased , personal, dark political rhetoric lectures. It shouldn't matter what the political views of the guest are. We watch to be entertained, and some have forgotten that is the point.
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This answers the proverbial question…why can’t we just all get along… It was refreshing.
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Well said Mary 👍
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I would also say "Well said, Mary," except for one thing: this would work if we were all on equal footing, but in this case one side is trying to totally demolish the other side and steal our democracy from us. I agree we should all be able to "just get along" but you've got to be able and willing to fight fair to do that. The Republicans never do and never will fight fair and they will never care about anything or anybody except the billionaire class (totally forgetting that they need the working class to keep their own lifestyle intact), and they keep proving that every single day. Oh, I almost forgot, they do care about their favorite pedophiles, you know, the one in the White House and the one that trump's just about to pardon and let her out of prison.
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I thought it was great. Hoping to see Jimmy Fallon on Gutfeld soon.
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It was nice to hear comedy without personal attacks, so sick of weaponized joking.
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I loved it! It gives me hope that we can all come together again to laugh and have a good time❤️
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Well obviously spewing Trump hatred night after night after night is not working. Why not reach the other 50% of America?
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It's not "50 %", as less than 1/3 of Americans voted for the felon now in the WH, and honestly, there seems to be no chance of reaching those immersed in the maga cult.
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K
Glad they kept it non political. I hope people who never watch Gutfeld will give him a try now. Too bad not everyone gets his channel.
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Clown
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Jimmy Fallon wasn't kissing Trumps ring. Greg is the number one most watched show on late night TV, beating all of them. His appearance showed them why. He is not a political party loyalist... He is simply funny and does chase both sides, but he correctly sees that the lunacy is mostly coming from the left. The other night shows are all TDS garbage and have very low ratings. Fallons ratings were probably great that night as I watched for the first time in years. I stopped watching him when he fell in line and only told jokes about Trump and not all the comic material that Biden provided.
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Every time I've tried to turn it on since 2016 none of the late show hosts can get 5 minutes into a monologue without a Trump rant. It's gross and its been worn out.
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Gutfield isn't "the number one most watched show on late night TV" because it isn't a late night show. It's on at ten. It's a primetime show. The audience sizes are not comparable.
Also, if you think any of the actual late night shows didn't tell Biden jokes, you clearly weren't watching.
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I think it was good and a good way to start uniting people. Not everyone has TDS.
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I think a TDS just thumbed you down. They are so easy to spot.
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& y’all make it easy to spot Nazis.
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I find it interesting that you call Trump and MAGA nazis when it’s us who are standing up for the Jewish students all across America who have become victims of hate crimes, which, btw, were unheard of until Biden took over and it’s the left who are guilty of the hate crimes against them.
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I am happy to see Fallon still successful. I used to watch him a lot, especially because he didn't hop on the Trump bashing bandwagon at 1st. But once it became so much of those jokes, and it rolling into that Terrible Seth Meyers show. That dude isn't even a little funny, & his band plays the same song over and over. Fallon is being held back by having such an awful show after his show. I did transition to Gutfeld because it was different and not the same stuff. But I always liked Fallon's persona. Loved how he included the family during covid. He seems like a good dude.
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Seth's show no longer has a band. Hasn't all season.
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I liked it, made it seem like how TV used to be.
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Did they have fun? End of story
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I think Jimmy is a class act and having Gutfield as a guest was excellent to help a divided nation heal. Great job Jimmy!
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The negative hateful responses of those on the left shows exactly what is wrong with the left. They will immediately cancel anyone who dares to not disrepect all those who have a different opinion of the world than them. The tolerant left is anything but.
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Hey Greg - I watched Red Eye because we were in Hawaii and it was on late night for us. Perfect timing.
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Nicely done by both men!🇺🇸
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I think it was Jimmy's best show ever. I laughed and it was awesome.
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Haven’t watched Tonight show in ages, monologue was terrible and definitely not funny. Was it just me or did the edits seem like the whole thing was rushed. But the “gags” with the band and his sidekick were horrible. No wonder no one’s watching
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Bravery, huh? Why? Because all the other late night hosts would blackball him, cancel him? This is the way people used to behave on Carson, Letterman, Leno, Good natured ribbing and fun. Maher does this all the time.
Why can’t we all just get along? Bring “funny” back into the equation. No mean-spirited stuff. Ditch politics - Laugh more.
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That’s exactly what conservatives think of the liberal left. Like right now in TX all those Leftist politicians leaving the state to avoid something THEY have already done in three states and Wanted to do in more that’s redistricting. So is them pulling that stunt fair ? No it’s not. Stacy Abrams intended on redistricting Ga. had she been elected. Dems are mad because the GOP used one of Their plays !! Simple as that !! Want to discuss how they impeached Trump Twice on flimsy as toilet paper grounds ? I could go on and on !! P.S. You Do know that Bill Clinton was a very close friend of Epstein right ?? You probably don’t acknowledge how Bill the man that had an affair with a Much younger intern Then lied about it and got caught. But to You ole Bill is probably a spotless white angel. 🙄
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Felon by a Kangaroo Court doesn’t count to realists. And we see liberal leftists as a cult to so there’s that.
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He did and Gutfeld did as well by accepting the invite. They kept politics out of it and I believe that’s Why most people enjoyed it. I don’t say politics and religion are untouchable. But speaking for me I think they are best left out of humor as usually someone ( plural) is gonna get offended. And that’s Not a one sided idea. Make jokes that everyone can enjoy. And Yes a good comedian can do that !!
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And like the article said the name Trump was mentioned only one time. Cut Way down on the politics and it will open the door for people to indeed come together and laugh together again. There’s a reason the sage advice of “ Don’t talk about politics and religion” especially when meeting someone the first time is Still Wise advice. Though I rarely ever agree with them I don’t “ Hate” people with an opposing view of politics than mine. I’m not saying political jokes should completely vanish but just cut way down on them. And when using political humor use it for Both primary parties Democrat and Republican. There’s Still Light for ALL of us if we look for it !! I don’t know what your politics are and don’t really care, I loved your comment !!
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Fallon showed some maturity and sanity by inviting Gutfeld. If there is ever to be any hope of bringing down the level of hatred, little things like this featuring well known guys like them is at least a small step.
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Ratings are Apples and Oranges > 10 pm. Few of Gutfield's Fox viewers would stay up past 11 to watch him.
I'll check it out again for fairness, but the first clip was not funny, and not just because of political aversion.
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People are waking up to the truth Fox has been speaking for years. Only the minority wants to defund police, allow illegal immigration, allow waste in Washington, etc, etc.
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To be fair Gutfeld is more libertarian leaning than conservative.
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I quit watching Jimmy Fallon because of his Trump bashing, but since Greg Gutfeld went on & it stayed comedy, I'll try watching Jimmy again, it broke my heart when I first quit because I loved him.
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This dude is just another talentless Fox News hack "comic" a la Rob Schneider.
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Gutfeld! continues to dominate the late-night ratings wars, topping its broadcast rivals — although it does air over an hour earlier in primetime at 10/9c.
That's an insane qualification to make. If it doesn't air during late night, it's not a late-night show. And the primetime audience is an order of magnitude larger, not comparable at all. It's in ratings competition with the NCISes and Elsbeths and various Dick Wolf projects of the world, not Colbert or Kimmel.
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Does Jimmy Fallon's audience even know who Greg Gutfeld is? And what is this big rival between the 2 of them? I didn't know there was one ..I think Fallon, Colbert, Kimmel & Seth Meyers are all really talented, funny people until they talk politics, then every thing goes straight out the window..I stopped watching NBC, CBS & ABC a long time ago as I think of them as evil propaganda...to me it's like they don't even exsist..I used to love Fallon because he was great on SNL, but when he came out crying after he was in trouble for wearing black face years ago and so afraid of losing his job, I was in shock and disgusted at his groveling .
I worshiped David Letterman when he was on NBC..Letterman should be so proud of being the only truly funny guy ever on a late night talk show...I've been watching Greg Gutfeld since Red Eye...I was always up at 3am and couldn't wait to watch..I just can't believe that the network channels don't mind losing tons of money just so they can delight in trashing Trump every night..when Trump came on the scene, everything changed..the country started paying attention to politics and politics became the big soap opera drama...all I really watch is podcasts on you tube now because I want the raw truth.
I really didn't like Greg's appearance on the Tonight show..I thought he seemed nervous and intimidated by Fallon..he came out talking in a manic way and never stopped..there was so much interesting subject matter that could have talked about.......
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While I'm sure Leno would have treated him the same (as he proved when he had Rush Limbaugh on, same for Dave), I'm wondering if Carson would even had him on...
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The more communication between the left and the right, the better, but it's hard not to see where Trump is taking us to that ends up being very similiar to a 1984 like society...The Ministry of Late Night coming soon.
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Of course he was bending for Trump. He doesn’t want to lose his show. Hugging up to someone who is openly racist is absolutely disgusting! They can both eat dirt.
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Sounded like an idiot.
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Lost all respect for Fallon for doing this. He's joined the ranks of those bowing to the creeping fascism in America. . Also, it won't keep his show on the air.
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Me: define fascism
Maru: you tell me, you’re the fascist!
Debating the left is like having a playground argument with a third grader.
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Does it still count as a debate when you don't actually allow the other person to respond and instead just make up their part?
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can,t stand him or his fellow short shit trumper hannity.faux news,the lying,cult idiots news channel.
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Musksuckssucks
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Sorry folks—Gutfeld’s appearance on Fallon will not unite the country.
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But it has to start somewhere
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Horrendous! Shame on you Gutfeld for going on that POS show! I won’t be watching Gutfeld’s show for awhile!!
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Omg, so stupid. This was great and I loved it.
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I just bet his show will survive without your viewership!
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Your comment tells me you're just as bad as the leftist..trying to keep people divided.
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