Greg Gutfeld stuck up for Jimmy Fallon, saying the worst thing his fellow late-night host has done is apologize to anonymous “cowards.”
The current “king of late night” spoke directly to the former one, who stands accused in a Rolling Stone report of fostering a toxic work environment on “The Tonight Show.” Fallon apologized last week to his staff, currently idled by the strike, in a Zoom call and a written apology.
That, Gutfeld said, was actually Fallon’s first mistake:
“They’re trying to Ellen Degeneres you, and they’re sad cowards and sh–bags,” Gutfeld said on “The Five.” “Because they don’t like people like you.”
Gutfeld, whose Fox News show recently rose to become the most-watched in late night (a distinction that requires a couple of important caveats to square), has been able to carry on during the strike because his staff is non-union. The accusations flew against Fallon at a time when the rest of late-night is still sitting on ice.
“He’s a gentle, sweet person,” Gutfeld continued. “He’s great at everything but hiding his own sh–. And that’s the problem here. If the drinking story is true, that’s sad. If the drinking story isn’t true, that’s evil. Because he’s being targeted for fake, or possibly real, reasons to get him fired. Again, he’s being ‘Ellen-ed.’”
But the biggest issue for Gutfeld was Fallon falling on a sword for accusers he cannot see or identify:
“The most important thing is, dude – dude dude dude dude dude – you have got to stop with the apologizing,” Gutfeld said. “You are apologizing all the time, and you are apologizing to people who will never forgive you. None of those people like you.”
Well, that, and the source of the report:
“How dare you apologize to anonymous people who go to Rolling Stone,” he said, pronouncing the publication’s name with abject disgust. “A sham of a scuzzy little magazine. To words: Duke Lacrosse.”
Gutfeld told Fallon he should ignore the criticisms outright, and focus on himself and the people who are truly closest to him.
“Now, let’s say he has a problem, alright? When you’re that talented, talent can overshadow personal pain and the excesses of your social life,” Gutfeld said. “The people around you won’t tell you if you have a problem. My advice is to start listening to the family and the people who love you and screw all those a——- that are around you. They’re not doing you any favors.”
Watch the entire exchange in the video clip above.