Actor Vince Vaughn said late-night talk shows have all become the “same” and are too “agenda-based” for people to watch.
“I think that the talk shows to a large part became really agenda-based,” Vaughn said Tuesday. “They were going to [evangelize] people to what they thought. You know what I mean? And so people just rejected it because it didn’t feel authentic. It felt like they had an agenda. It stopped being funny and it started feeling like I was f—— in a class I didn’t want to take. You know? I’m getting scolded.”
The “Wedding Crashers” actor made the remarks on Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend” podcast after Von noted how late-night shows have been struggling after only targeting “White redneck kind of people” in their comedy routines.
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Vaughn added that people have likely become more drawn to podcasts over late-night shows for authenticity and to “feel like people are having a real conversation.”
“If you look at what happened to the talk shows and why their ratings are low, it’s got only to do with the fact of what you just said, which is they all became the same show. And they all became so about their politics and who’s good and who’s bad. And it’s like, imagine sitting next to someone like that on a f—— plane,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn has been criticized in the past for images of himself interacting and acting cordial with President Donald Trump going back as far as 2020. Last year, he visited the White House and took a “Wedding Crashers” parody photo with the president.
Von asked whether he had ever felt ostracized by Hollywood because of his beliefs and actions.
“I got along with people for the most and always was, you know, always try to be honest about who I am. But yeah, there’s times you felt like it would have been easier. It’s almost like a career move. You know what I mean? But I was always the other way too. Like I’m not jumping on 100% this or this because I have opinions on both sides. There’s s— I don’t agree with at all and then there’s s— I don’t agree with at all,” Vaughn said.
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Vaughn has described himself as a libertarian and said that he ultimately believes in “allowing individuals to make choices.”
“I’d rather say let people make their choices, and they can make different choices and have the consequences of their choices,” he told The New York Times in 2024.
