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. 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 cancelation.
“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 guess 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
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