October 03, 2017
Late-night hosts united on Monday night to address what is now known to be the deadliest mass shooting in the nation's history.
Many of the comedians got political in their opening and closing monologues, calling for the need for some kind of change after Stephen Paddock, 64, opened fire on a group of country music festivalgoers from the 32nd floor of his Mandalay Bay hotel room in Las Vegas on Sunday. The tragedy has left about 530 people injured and claimed the lives of at least 59.
Here's what they said:
A teary-eyed Kimmel, known for taking on other political issues like health care, delivered a powerful 10-minute-long message while addressing what he called a "terrible, inexplicable, shocking and painful tragedy."
The massacre is an issue of "public safety" that needs more than just "love and prayers," he said.
"...Of course there’s something we can do about it, there’s a lot of things we can do about it," Kimmel said. "But we don’t, which is interesting. Because when someone with a beard attacks us, we tap phones, we invoke travel bans, we build walls, we take every possible precaution to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But when an American buys a gun and kills other Americans, then there’s nothing we can do about that."
Noah touched on what he sees as a tendency for politicians to pivot away from talking about guns following a mass shooting.
"If you say after a mass shooting is never the time, then you’ll never have the conversation because there’s a mass shooting in America almost every single day," he said. "So when is the time?"
Colbert addressed the need for change and remarked that "doing nothing is cowardice," and that "doing something will take courage."
"President Trump: You’ve said you want to be a transformative president who doesn’t care about the way things have always been done in Washington, D.C.," Colbert said. "This is your chance to prove it."
O'Brien recognized that he is "not the most political of our comics," but found it especially shocking when a writer handed him a "folder" of the comments he made following shootings in Orlando and Sandy Hook, Connecticut, to prepare for Monday night's show.
"How could there be a file of mass shooting remarks for a late-night host?" he said. "When did that become normal? When did this become a ritual? And what does it say about us that it happens?"
Corden said he's sharing his thoughts on the issue whether or not people believe he has a platform since he hails from the U.K.
"How does every other developed country do a better job of preventing these attacks?" Corden said. "We can’t be surprised that gun crime will always occur where there is such wide availability of guns."
Meyers directly addressed politicians and made mention of Congressman Steve Scalise's return to the House floor just months after being part of an unprovoked shooting himself. He said there needs to be more done than just offering prayers to victims and families.
"When there’s a shooting, we just pray for a miracle?" Meyers said. "Because maybe that is it."
Fallon took a few seconds away from introducing Miley Cyrus, the night's performer, to address the massacre.
"In the face of tragedies and acts of terror, we need to remember that good still exists in this world," he said. "We’re here to entertain you tonight, and that’s what we’re going to do."
