Vince Vaughn has some thoughts on late-night TV.
On a new episode of Theo Vaughn’s podcast, This Past Weekend, the two discuss how comedy has become more political in recent years, with Vaughn saying, “It’s part of the job because you have to talk about current events, but you don’t want to be part of a group and feel like you’re a champion of one ideology. You want to make fun of everyone.”
Vaughn said Hollywood is a “liberal place,” adding, “But it’s not really that way. It’s like, ‘We’re smart and we understand. If you don’t agree with us, you’re stupid.'” He added, “There was definitely a culture where if you didn’t agree with these ideas, you were demonized.”
Fong and Vaughn say this attitude has permeated late-night television, plaguing shows hosted by Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and others. (Vaughn and Von declined to give their names.)
“A lot of Late Show struggles because…at one point the only people you could make fun of were white, redneck people, and then everything fell apart,” Fong said.
“With fewer producers, fewer writers, fewer staff, podcasts have become even more popular because…people are looking for authenticity,” Vaughn added. “Talk shows, to a large extent, really became agenda-based. They were going to (preach) people what they thought. So people rejected it because it didn’t feel authentic. They felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny and it started to feel like they were taking a shitty class that they didn’t want to take. They were being scolded.”
While many people attribute the decline of late-night programming to changing viewing habits and a shift away from terrestrial television, Vaughn believes the main problem lies with the programming itself.
“This phenomenon is not what they say it is. They always blame technology, but the reality is it’s a matter of approach,” he says.
“People are going to pay more attention to podcasts because they want to feel like people are having real conversations, and that’s interesting to them,” Vaughn added. “But if you look at what happened to the talk shows and why the ratings are low, it only has to do with what you just said, which is the fact that they all became the same show. They all became that way about their politics and who’s the good guys and who’s the bad guys.”
Bourne has long identified as a “libertarian” and does not support the MAGA movement, but he came under fire last year for posing in the Oval Office for a photo posted by Donald Trump. Fong asked the actor if he ever felt “ostracized” in Hollywood.
“I’ve always tried to get along with people…and be honest about who I am,” Vaughn said, adding that when it comes to politics, “I have opinions on both sides.” He said his early relationships in Hollywood weren’t influenced by politics because “we weren’t sitting around at 23 years old talking about taxes.”
“If you’re always worried about what other people think of you and you can only be around them for a few hours a day, you’re going to feel miserable most of the time. You have to find a way to be yourself, but you have to be respectful.”
