In response to a late-night joke broadcast by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show: at theorks of Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump has demanded the show’s cancelation, a move that would inevitably contribute to the longstanding feud between the two prominent television personalities.
The fallout stems from Fallon’s decision to greet the new Trump era with a clip from his show two days after the election, in which he fanned the “new normal” fire by tousling the then-president-elect’s hair on national television, as opposed to a more standard interview-style format. Citizens expressed heated criticism of the decision, evidencing an early sign of what appears to be a contentious relationship between the comedian and the presidential counterpart.
Enter the newest chapter in a decades-old series of high-stakes rivalries, with the latest feud centering around a spicy phone call Trump allegedly made to the White House’s Office of Communications following Fallon’s latest stunt – reportedly asking for the show’s cancellation. The “new normal” did not seem to settle well with the President, inspiring a stern warning to the entertainment juggernaut regarding its continued operation.
“Jimmy [Fallon] is better off reading a book or writing a thank-you note to Alex Trebek,” the no-longer-elect President Trump reportedly commented in the phone call, indicating that his outspoken adversary may be feeling the heat, especially after The Tonight Show recently ushered in a skit that drew comparisons of Russian President Vladimir Putin to the novelty band Walken on Skis. “What amazing writers,” mocked the White House spokesman, Sarah Sanders.
Despite the obstacles and adversaries that have challenged him throughout his decades-long career, Fallon is taking the challenge with his characteristic sense of humor – honorably admitting that he is “flattered and grateful” that his show has garnered the attention of the President. But even with such a positive response from the acclaimed show host, the current adversarial climate between Fallon and Trump may lead viewers to wonder: in a time when the president makes accusations and targeted threats a daily occurrence, can the entertainment realm maintain any semblance of neutrality, and, alternatively, might the fallout between the comedy world’s leader and the political world’s figurehead ultimately determine the future of the genre as a whole?
[Tag Format]: comedy, farce, late-night-television, trump-fallon-feedud, satire, political-satire, comedy-central-and-the-white-house-feedud, entertainment-politics, pardon-the-interruption, political-comedy.
Original URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/19/arts/television/jimmy-fallon-trump-phone-call-putin.html
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