I often say that the jokers/hosts of late night talk shows are the ones that hold truth in the palm of their hands. Of course, they can get away with it because it is all a joke, don't you know. Forget about the daytime Ellen DeGenereses and the Oprahs, they have nothing going, and even less so the news shows.
I don't often watch these late shows, mostly because their lugubrious Hollywood guests, who are all about themselves, are not worth sitting through to get at the 10 to 12-minute monologues of jokes.
But here is one (video below), where Jay Leno tries repeatedly to get John Weir, the obviously gay figure skater who didn't break any records or win any medals in Vancouver despite being one of the most talked about athletes, to admit that he is gay. Weir, for all his flamboyance, is holding back. Why?
Along with Weir, there is also the black basketball star Charles Barkley who says that black people don't skate. Now let's hear a sports commentator at ESPN say that, and he would probably be out of a job.
Near the end, Weir talks about his fascination for Russia, but says Arabic is much harder to learn than Russian. Leno says, "Don't try the flamboyant thing in Arabic." Loud laughter - everyone knew what he's talking about. On Fox News, Leno would be reprimanded, or have his comments section filled with how racist and Islamophobic he is. On Leno, the ordinary audience gets it.
You can watch the video here.
