Conan O’Brien Reflects on Late Night’s ‘Tough Situation’ Covering Today’s News: ‘How Do You Not Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve?’ | Video

Conan O’Brien knows the world looks a lot different since the heights of his late night career, and he admitted he’d struggle to find the funny in today’s headlines if he were still a network host.

In conversation with “IMO” podcast hosts Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson on Wednesday, the comedian said he empathizes with late night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers because they’re in the “tough situation” of reporting on the news everyday.

“Obviously, I’m friends with the other hosts. I’m not a late night host anymore, but I’m friends with them and I think they’re all very talented,” O’Brien said, agreeing with Obama that “comedy is more fraught these days.” “I think they’re really good people. And they’re in a tough situation because your job is to go out and talk about the news every day.”

O’Brien admitted that he was never “strictly” a comedian that relied on the news — “I usually tried to find things that were silly and funny outside of the news” — but that especially today he doesn’t know how he’d do it.

“Things are so divisive right now and I think it’s got to be just a really tough task,” he said. “I do have empathy for people who are trying to figure out what’s funny in this because I know just as a citizen I get up in the morning and I look at what happened in the news. My first instinct when I read the news is nothing here gives me joy or is making me laugh.”

He added that while he has the comfort of instead turning to everyday life for humor, late night hosts today don’t have that luxury.

“If you’re doing one of those shows, how do you not talk about it?” he said. “And then how do you not wear your heart on your sleeve or maybe get mad? So it’s difficult.”

His comments on the state of late night came after a January appearance at an Oxford Union event where he criticized anti-Trump comedians for focusing on anger instead of being funny.

“I think some comics go the route of, ‘I’m going to just say, “F Trump” all the time,’ or that’s their comedy,” O’Brien said at the time. “Well, now a little bit you’re being co-opted because you’re so angry … You’ve been lulled into just saying ‘F Trump. F Trump. F Trump. Screw this guy.’ And I think you’ve now put down your best weapon, which is being funny, and you’ve exchanged it for anger.”

Watch O’Brien, who’s next slated to host the Oscars on March 15, on former First Lady Obama and Robinson’s “IMO” podcast in the video below:

The post Conan O’Brien Reflects on Late Night’s ‘Tough Situation’ Covering Today’s News: ‘How Do You Not Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve?’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.