HOCKING REVEAL: How America’s Late-Night TV Took a Hard Left Turn — and Why Stephen Colbert Now Stands at the Centre of Hollywood’s Most Explosive Culture War

By any measure, America’s late-night television landscape is no longer just about punchlines and celebrity banter. According to a bombshell new study, it has become a highly charged political battlefield — and critics say no figure embodies that transformation more than Stephen Colbert.

Fresh data compiled by conservative media watchdog NewsBusters paints a staggering picture: jokes targeting conservatives have surged to unprecedented levels, liberal guests dominate booking lists, and Donald Trump has become the single most mocked public figure in late-night history. The findings are now fuelling a renewed backlash, resurrecting old controversies around Colbert and igniting darker online claims that Hollywood would rather bury.

A 92% Political Imbalance No One Can Ignore

The numbers alone are enough to raise eyebrows. After analysing 818 episodes across the late-night universe in 2025 — including shows hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Colbert, and The Daily Show — NewsBusters concluded that 92% of all political jokes targeted the right.

Liberal guests appeared 197 times. Conservative voices? Just two.

One was Greg Gutfeld, who briefly appeared on The Tonight Show in August. The other was economist Oren Cass, who appeared on The Daily Show in April to discuss tariffs under President Trump.

That’s not a lean — critics say it’s a landslide.

Trump: The Ultimate Punching Bag

No figure absorbed more late-night fire than Donald Trump. Hosts mocked him 7,045 times in 2025 alone, up sharply from 5,980 the year before.

Leading the charge was Kimmel, who reportedly took shots at Trump 1,668 times across 155 episodes — an average of 11 jokes per night. According to the study, 97% of Kimmel’s political jokes targeted conservatives.

Some routines crossed into crude territory. In one monologue, Kimmel infamously described Trump administration figures as “AI-generated human vomits,” a line that sparked both applause and outrage.

The controversy reached boiling point in September when Kimmel was temporarily pulled off the air after comments about a politically charged killing involving conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Though Kimmel later apologised, the incident left ABC executives scrambling and critics accusing late-night TV of abandoning comedy for outright activism.

Colbert’s Transformation: From Satirist to Symbol

While Kimmel may top the raw numbers, Colbert has become the lightning rod.

Once celebrated as a sharp satirist skewering both sides, Colbert’s Late Show is now accused by critics of serving as what NewsBusters bluntly calls “therapy for the left.” The show’s tone, they argue, has shifted from humour to ideological reassurance.

That perception only intensified after an awkward segment earlier this month featuring Prince Harry. During the interview, Harry quipped that Americans had “elected a king,” triggering boos and groans from the audience.

Social media lit up — and not just from conservatives.

“That was painful to watch, and I don’t even like Trump,” one viewer wrote. Another simply declared it “another Colbert failure.”

Old Controversies Resurface

As Colbert’s influence wanes — CBS recently announced his show will end next May, citing financial pressures — darker narratives are bubbling back to the surface.

Online conspiracy communities have resurrected long-debunked claims involving Colbert’s past comedy sketches, including a notorious satirical bit years ago that some critics still cite as “disturbing” or “symbolic.” These claims are frequently bundled with recycled allegations linking Hollywood figures to Pizzagate-style conspiracies and figures such as John Podesta.

There is no evidence supporting these theories, and they have been repeatedly dismissed by journalists and fact-checkers. Still, their re-emergence underscores how polarised the conversation around Colbert has become — where satire, symbolism, and suspicion blur into one combustible mix.

Campaign Comedy?

The study also highlights what critics describe as selective political cheerleading.

During New York’s mayoral race, late-night hosts reportedly told 95% of their jokes about the socialist front-runner’s rivals, while sparing the candidate himself. Colbert went further, hosting Elizabeth Warren for an unusually long, three-segment interview.

Together, they praised the candidate’s message and openly discussed his potential appeal nationwide.

“It may open in New York,” Colbert said, “but like a Broadway show, it’s going to play very well on the national tour.”

“Well, this is the whole point,” Warren replied.

For critics, it looked less like comedy — and more like campaigning.

“The Numbers Don’t Lie”

David Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, didn’t mince words.

“The numbers don’t lie,” he said. “So-called late-night comedians are part of an elitist media complex that has fuelled hatred of conservatives for years.”

Supporters of Colbert and his peers push back, arguing late-night comedy has always reflected cultural power and that Trump, as a uniquely polarising figure, naturally attracts satire. They insist audiences are free to change the channel.

But even some liberal viewers are beginning to tune out.

Ratings have slipped. Advertisers are cautious. And with Colbert’s show officially heading for the exit, the question now facing Hollywood is uncomfortable but unavoidable.

Has late-night television laughed itself into irrelevance?

What’s clear is this: once America’s communal bedtime joke, late-night TV is now a fractured mirror of a divided nation — and Stephen Colbert, for better or worse, has become the face staring back.