Late-night television endured several severe setbacks last year, but Conan O'Brien anticipated trouble in 2024.
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He predicted it before Jimmy Kimmel was suspended in September of last year after remarks he made about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
O'Brien sensed it before CBS announced last year The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end on May 21, 2026.
As reported by Page Six, he saw it coming after he appeared on a YouTube interview show two years ago.
Conan O'Brien Knew the End for Late Night Shows Was Near After He Appeared on "Hot Ones"
O'Brien memorably appeared on Hot Ones, hosted by Sean Evans. If you're unfamiliar with the streaming program, celebrity guests answer questions while eating spicy wings.
In his episode, O'Brien didn't seen concerned with how the hot sauce would affect his digestive system. He drank the spicy stuff straight from the bottle, then rubbed it all over his body for good measure.
The Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend host even brought a fake doctor to examine him mid-interview. This display was a masterclass in physical comedy. But for O'Brien, the moment the episode reached 15 million views was when he realized late-night talk shows faced real trouble.
"That was the moment the scales fell from my eyes," said O'Brien. "If a guy can do World Series numbers with overhead that looked, to me, to be about $600, and you have every big star lining up to do his show or Chicken Shop Date ... that's when I profoundly understood that late-night shows are in trouble."
Stephen Colbert Calls O'Brien the "Patron Saint of Ex-Talk Show Hosts"
Colbert shared that O'Brien, who hosts the Academy Awards this Sunday, has been telling him to quit his show for years. The host of Conan was on the TBS show until 2021. Before that, he had a brief but well-publicized stint on The Tonight Show after he hosted Late Night from 1993 through 2009.
"We were out, a few Emmys ago, and he kept saying, 'I want you to know there's a lot of fun to be had when this is over, so don't feel like you need to stay.' It almost hurt my feelings, but he was just being kind. He Dutch uncle'd me," said Colbert.
Although CBS maintains that Colbert's cancellation was a financial decision, O'Brien has inferred it may have been related to Colbert's criticism of President Donald Trump.
"I'm of the mind that yes, these shows are going away and will become something else," he said. "But I don't like when other malign forces intervene, because they're trying to curry favor. That pisses me off."
