‘Made Many Cruel Jokes About Me’: Jay Leno Slams Late-Night for Getting Too Political, Monica Lewinsky Reminds Him He ‘Targeted’ Her for Years Over the Bill Clinton Scandal

Jay Leno’s recent remarks about late-night hosts being too political have sparked fresh conversations about his own legacy, especially his jokes about Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton scandal. Now 75, the former “Tonight Show” host is facing renewed attention, with many noting the irony of his critique given how often he leaned on politics during his own late-night reign.

The controversy began brewing in February 2025 when Lewinsky appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast with Alex Cooper, where she reflected on her experience as a frequent target of late-night comedy.

The 52-year-old author recalled how deeply the jokes affected her, particularly those from male hosts who dominated the late-night landscape. She specifically mentioned discovering that when Leno retired, the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) had conducted a study revealing she was among the top 10 targets of his late-night show throughout his entire tenure,

Leno’s representatives quickly pushed back against Lewinsky’s characterization through TMZ. An alleged source close to the comedian stated he didn’t target her personally but rather saw her as “an easy punchline and fair game” since she was constantly in the news.

They argued that joking about her was part of late-night host rivalry, with all the male hosts joining in on the political catnip. Sources said while comedy can hurt, Leno wasn’t personally targeting Lewinsky and noted he hasn’t mentioned her name in nearly 30 years.

However, last month, Leno made comments during an interview with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation that would bring this debate back into the spotlight, possibly showing his new stance is sharply different than what he did when he was on air, according to Variety.

Speaking with David Trulio, the foundation’s president and CEO, Leno criticized today’s late-night hosts for being too political. He argued that comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel were “cozying too much to one side or the other,” cutting their audience in half. Leno recalled getting hate mail from both Republicans and Democrats over the same joke, seeing it as proof of his balanced approach.

The irony wasn’t lost on many who quickly pointed out the contradiction between Leno’s stated philosophy and his actual track record.

According to the George Mason University study referenced in his interview, Leno told 4,607 jokes about Bill Clinton compared to 3,239 about George W. Bush. Even more telling, four of his top five political targets were Democrats, with Monica Lewinsky ranking seventh overall with 454 jokes made at her expense.

Reddit users were particularly harsh in their assessment of Leno’s comments.

“Maybe he doesn’t consider harassing a 22-year-old kid with one of the loudest megaphones in media to be political. Maybe he’d be cool about it if someone was making fun of the victims?,” one person wrote.

Another offered a more nuanced perspective: “In fairness to Jay, bullying Monica Lewinsky was a bipartisan endeavor. God, that time period sucked.”

Twitter users were equally critical, with many highlighting the hypocrisy in Leno’s position. One user sarcastically tweeted, “Jay Leno: I don’t do politics in my late night shows Also Jay Leno: makes a joke about Monica Lewinski decades after Clinton has been out of office.”

Another tweeted, “When I remember all the Monica Lewinsky jokes I heard as a kid, the person telling them is Jay Leno. This is just like all those people who didn’t think South Park was political until it made fun of Trump. It’s only ‘political’ when they disagree with it.”

When Variety posted about Leno’s criticism of today’s political late-night shows, one Twitter user directly addressed Lewinsky: “Wow look at that @MonicaLewinsky, turns out jay leno isn’t a fan of politician jokes. Who would have known?”

Lewinsky herself responded to the renewed attention around Leno’s comments, writing in response to a now-deleted X post: “Totally see where you’re coming from but i think what he’s pointing out is that leno made many, many cruel jokes about me (so much so that i was in the top 10 list of his targets… from all the years he was on the air)…”

The exchange highlights the complicated legacy of late 1990s comedy, when a young White House intern became nightly entertainment. Leno insists his approach was balanced, but the numbers suggest a disproportionate focus on Lewinsky, who was just 22 when thrust into the spotlight.

This controversy comes as late-night TV shifts dramatically, with CBS canceling Stephen Colbert’s show, officially for financial reasons, though some critics argue politics in the Trump era played a role in the decision.