Johnny Carson Thought Presenting ‘Controversial Issues’ Could Be a ‘Fatal Mistake’
When Johnny Carson hosted The Tonight Show, he was accused by some observers of going too far to avoid controversy. And when confronted with those opinions, he had a pretty strong reaction. Eventually, he concluded he thought it would be a “fatal mistake” to use his platform to broach controversial subjects. However, he did share his thoughts on such matters under the right circumstances.
Johnny Carson said ‘controversy just wasn’t what ‘The Tonight Show’ was for’ when he hosted
When Alex Haley interviewed Carson for Playboy in 1967, he asked if the often-private host was “deliberately avoiding controversy” on The Tonight Show as some had accused. “Well, bulls***! That’s my answer,” Carson told him. “I just don’t feel that Johnny Carson should become a social commentator.”
He thought other talk-show hosts that courted controversy, namely Tom Duggan, Alan Burke, and Joe Pyne, used it to substitute for talent. “They insult people. They’re rude,” he said of those figures. “It embarrasses me to watch that kind of prodding and goading.”
He went on to ask a couple of questions: “Who cares what entertainers on the air think about international affairs? Who would want to hear me about Vietnam?”
According to Carson, viewers could hear all they wanted “from people with reason to be respected as knowledgeable.” He argued, “Controversy just isn’t what [The Tonight Show] is for.”
Johnny Carson thought it would be a fatal mistake to use his show ‘as a platform for controversial issues’
Carson further explained to Haley it wasn’t just a personal choice to avoid certain topics, it was professional. He offered, “I’m not the host of Meet the Press.”
According to him, being a proper social commentator would kill his humor. “If you’re a comedian, your job is to make people laugh. You cannot be both serious and funny,” he opined. “One negates the other. Personally, I want to be a successful comedian.”
As such, he didn’t think he would sustain his career by injecting opinions on divisive subjects. “I think it would be a fatal mistake to use my show as a platform for controversial issues,” he said. “I’m an entertainer, not a commentator.”
But he confessed to having “strong personal opinions” and added, “I might even be better informed than the average person, just because it’s my business to keep up on what’s happening.”
However, he concluded, “That doesn’t mean I should use the show to impose my personal views on millions of people.”
Johnny Carson took some personal stands on ‘The Tonight Show’
All that being said, it’s essential to note Carson would allow others to use The Tonight Show as a platform to speak on important issues.
For instance, he handed his spot to Harry Belafonte to host a week of civil rights activists and historical figures like Martin Luther King Jr. The host felt the conversations were essential to give a platform to but supposedly didn’t feel qualified to be leading them.
“We have dealt with controversial subjects on the show — sex, religion, Vietnam, narcotics. They’ve all been discussed, by qualified guests, and I’ve taken stands myself,” Carson explained to Haley. “But it’s only when the subject rises naturally. I won’t purposely inject controversy just for the sake of controversy.”
He noted he could easily “get in the headlines any day by attacking a major public figure like Bobby Kennedy or by coming out in favor of birth control or abortion.”
“But I just don’t see it, and I don’t play it that way,” he concluded. “I won’t make this show a forum for my own political views.”
