The drama in late-night television just turned up another notch. Fox News star Greg Gutfeld used his Friday, Aug. 3 broadcast of Gutfeld! to take a swipe at his liberal competitors, seizing the moment as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert faced abrupt cancellation.

While promoting his upcoming appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Gutfeld both praised Fallon and sharpened his jabs at Stephen Colbert—drawing a sharp contrast between the two hosts.

“While Colbert interviews a loser, Jimmy Fallon invites a winner”

During the segment, Gutfeld mocked Colbert’s recent interview with Kamala Harris, where the former vice president dodged a question about President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance.

“While Colbert interviews a loser, Jimmy Fallon invites a winner,” Gutfeld declared, before confirming his scheduled Tonight Show crossover: “Yes, I’ll be appearing on The Tonight Show next Thursday. It’s the biggest crossover since the Harlem Globetrotters visited The Golden Girls.”

Fallon Praised, Rivals Mocked

In a rare show of respect across network lines, Gutfeld applauded Fallon as “a great, genuine guy who wants to make people laugh instead of putting them to bed angrier than The View at a salad bar.”

He then turned the compliment into a backhanded swipe at other late-night hosts:

“And unlike the other guys, Jimmy sitting with me proves he’s not afraid of upsetting his peers—or afraid of my mesmerizing charm.”

Gutfeld doubled down by recalling Fallon’s infamous 2016 Donald Trump interview, where the NBC host playfully tousled Trump’s hair. Fallon was widely criticized at the time for “humanizing” the then-presidential candidate.

“Remember, he was destroyed for messing up Trump’s hair,” Gutfeld said. “The angry mob wanted a brutal takedown, but Jimmy had fun—which is criminal to the liberal hive mind. And so Fallon was eviscerated, an example of the media teaching everyone: if you dare humanize Hitler, we’ll dehumanize you.”

“Maybe things are changing”

Gutfeld suggested the landscape of late-night might finally be shifting. “But it’s a different time now. Things are changing. Maybe we can have fun with each other, even if politically we’re different,” he concluded.

His remarks landed just as the late-night community rallied behind Colbert, who was abruptly pulled off air.

Colbert Controversy

Rumors are swirling that Colbert’s cancellation stemmed from controversial comments he made about Donald Trump just three days before the announcement.

Colbert had blasted Paramount over its reported $16 million settlement with Trump regarding an edited 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.

On air, Colbert fumed: “I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles: it’s ‘big, fat bribe.’”

The biting remark may have pushed Paramount executives too far, with speculation growing that Colbert’s words sealed the fate of his long-running show.

The Late-Night Wars Escalate

With Colbert’s cancellation, Fallon’s ratings bump, and Gutfeld’s crossover appearance looming, the late-night landscape feels more combustible than ever.

What’s clear is that Gutfeld is capitalizing on the chaos, carving himself as both a disruptor and a challenger to the traditional late-night order.

And for Fallon, his gamble to share the stage with Fox’s most controversial comic voice may just mark the start of a new, unpredictable era in late-night television.