Even as one of late night’s most prolific figures, not all of Jimmy Fallon’s interviews have been great. One of his most divisive clips came in September 2016 when he interviewed then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. The now infamous clip features Fallon ruffling Trump’s hair, and audiences (including fellow comedians) immediately expressed their outrage. “It just got bigger and out of control,” Fallon later told The Hollywood Reporter’s “Awards Chatter” podcast. “I’m just trying to make a funny show.”
But even with his steady popularity, the clip tarnished Fallon’s reputation for a while and even reportedly contributed to a ratings decline. “People just jump on the train, and some people don’t even want to hear anything else. They’re like, ‘No, you did that!’ You go, ‘Well, just calm down and just look at the whole thing and actually see my body of work,” Fallon said.
As is his fashion, Trump took a jab at Fallon after he spoke about the incident, taking to X, formerly Twitter, to tell the late-night host to “be a man.” Fallon’s response? He made a donation to the immigration organization RAICES in Trump’s name.
