If you walked into a dive bar in 2007 and saw a guy at 3 a.m. talking to a puppet and a panel of bizarre misfits about the existential dread of modern politics, you probably weren't hallucinating. You were just watching Red Eye. That guy was Greg Gutfeld of Fox News, and back then, nobody—not even the executives at his own network—expected him to become the most influential man in late-night television.
Fast forward to 2026. The landscape has shifted. While traditional giants like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon have seen their numbers soften, Gutfeld’s eponymous show, Gutfeld!, has solidified its spot at the top of the mountain. In 2025, his program averaged a staggering 3.3 million viewers, a 21% jump from the previous year. He isn't just a "cable news guy" anymore. He’s the person who broke the liberal monopoly on the midnight monologue.
The Secret Sauce of Gutfeld’s Rise
Why did this happen? Honestly, it’s because he doesn't care if you like him. That sounds like a cliché, but in an industry where everyone is desperate for a "clippable" moment that makes them look virtuous, Gutfeld leans into being the villain for half the country. He calls it "insult conservatism," though he’s technically a libertarian who hates being told what to do by anyone, left or right.
He spent years in the magazine world. He edited Men’s Health. He ran Stuff and Maxim in the U.K. You can see that "lad mag" DNA in everything he does. It’s fast, it’s punchy, and it’s unapologetically irreverent. He treats the news like a locker room conversation rather than a sermon.
Breaking the Late-Night Mold
Most late-night shows follow a rigid formula: monologue, desk bit, celebrity interview, musical guest. Gutfeld basically threw that in the trash.
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- The Panel: He doesn't just book A-list actors promoting a Marvel movie. He brings on Kat Timpf, Tyrus, and a rotating cast of comedians like Jamie Lissow or Dave Landau.
- The Humor: It’s often self-deprecating. He makes fun of his own height (he's 5'5") as much as he mocks the President.
- The Audience: He caters to the "forgotten" viewer who feels like Hollywood is lecturing them.
The Controversy Magnet
You can't talk about Greg Gutfeld of Fox News without talking about the times he’s stepped in it. He’s a professional provocateur. In July 2025, he sparked a massive firestorm by suggesting conservatives should "reclaim" the word Nazi to strip it of its power—a move that even some of his supporters found baffling and offensive.
Then there was the 2023 Holocaust comment. During a segment on The Five, he invoked Viktor Frankl to suggest that some people survived the Holocaust by being "useful." It was a textbook Gutfeld moment: taking a complex, academic idea and shoving it into a 20-second soundbite where it became a lightning rod for criticism. The White House called it a "horrid lie." Gutfeld called it a misunderstanding of his point about human resilience.
He’s been rebuked by his own colleagues, too. Remember when Benjamin Hall, a Fox foreign correspondent, corrected him on-air for suggesting the media was "manipulating" footage of the Ukraine war? Gutfeld’s brand is built on this friction. He thrives on the "us versus them" energy that defines 2026 America.
Why the Ratings Keep Climbing
By mid-2025, Gutfeld! was outdrawing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for 21 straight months in total viewers. That's not a fluke. It’s a shift in how people consume "funny" news.
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The traditional networks are losing the 18-49 demographic. Meanwhile, Gutfeld’s 2026 tour with Tom Shillue is selling out venues across the country. People are paying real money to see a guy do a live version of a cable news show.
It works because of The Five. That 5 p.m. show is the most-watched program in cable news, and Gutfeld is the anchor of its chaotic energy. He uses it as a laboratory to test jokes for his 10 p.m. slot. If a bit lands at dinner time, it’s going to kill at bedtime.
The Libertarian Paradox
Is he a conservative? Sorta. He’s more of a "leave me the hell alone" guy. He’s pro-choice, or at least he used to be more vocal about it. He doesn't care about your private life. But he hates bureaucracy and "woke" culture with a passion that resonates with millions of people who feel alienated by mainstream media.
The 2026 Outlook: What’s Next?
As we move deeper into the 2026 election cycle, Gutfeld isn't slowing down. Fox News signed him to a massive multi-year contract in late 2024, and he’s now the face of the network’s cultural push. He isn't just a talking head; he’s an author of ten books, six of which hit the New York Times Best Seller list.
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If you want to understand where the "New Right" is going, you have to watch him. He’s replaced the old-school, stuffy conservative commentary with something that looks like a 1990s MTV show but feels like a political rally.
What you can do now:
To see if Gutfeld’s brand of humor works for you, check out a few episodes of The Five versus Gutfeld!. You’ll notice the shift in tone immediately. If you’re a student of media, pay attention to his use of "re-framing"—how he takes a story that seems bad for his side and turns the joke back on the media reporting it. Whether you love him or think he’s the "most dangerous man on television," his dominance in the ratings proves that his formula is the new standard for late-night success.