Greg Gutfeld has made a career out of going against the grain, and now he says that very mindset explains how Gutfeld! has risen to the top of the late-night ratings race. The Fox host is often an afterthought in the genre compared to Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers. But Gutfeld feels confident he has an edge over his competition.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gutfeld was asked what “late-night” even means in 2025, a time when the landscape looks nothing like the days of Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, or David Letterman. For Gutfeld, the shift came when politics started to overshadow comedy. Now, it seems as if Colbert, Kimmel, and other hosts are just as much part of the story rather than just poking fun at the news.
"Yeah, [late-night TV] kind of became defined as maybe a person who wanted to go to bed angry with somebody who wanted to go to bed happy,” Gutfeld said. “One thing that I always want to do is not send people to bed enraged. Sure, maybe you’re sad that Biden lost, but we’re going to have so much fun, and this is going to be great! And then Trump wins. This is going to be so much fun, and this is going to be great! So, we’re going to have fun, and things are going to be great no matter who wins or loses.”
Gutfeld contrasted his approach with what he sees from other late-night shows, saying he doesn’t understand why anyone would end their night with more frustration. “I think doing a late-night show that makes everyone feel bad is a disservice,” he added. “That’s when you have people switching the channel to come to us. They didn’t even know that we existed until then.”
It's a similar argument to one made by Leno in the wake of CBS cancelling The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Like Gutfeld, Leno believes late-night should be an escape rather than a reminder of any negativity in the news. Both late-night hosts also think catering strictly to one side is a shortsighted approach to the genre.
That “channel flip,” Gutfeld argues, turned into a permanent shift. He believes viewers weren’t just sampling his show out of curiosity; they were sticking around because he offered something missing from mainstream late-night.
“I think it’s not just about late night; it’s about all of culture," Gutfeld shared. "It’s the ability to tell people, you aren’t the cool kids at the table anymore. You took people for granted, you insulted everybody else, and we’re the ones now who are having fun.”
With that, Gutfeld sees his rise not as an accident but as the result of seizing an opportunity others ignored. And as long as a portion of late-night viewers keep looking for a lighter, less bitter end to their day, he’s betting they’ll keep turning to him.