Trump rages over ‘sick rumor’ NBC extended ‘insecure’ Seth Meyers’ contract but deal was signed last year
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump was seemingly upset over what he called a “sick rumor” that NBC had decided to stick with “insecure child” Seth Meyers.
“There is a sick rumor going around that Fake News NBC extended the contract of one of the least talented Late Night television hosts out there, Seth Meyers,” Trump fumed in a Truth Social post early Wednesday.
Donald Trump attacks Seth Meyers and NBC over contract extension
“He has no Ratings, Talent, or Intelligence, and the Personality of an insecure child,” he added. “So, why would Fake News NBC extend this dope’s contract. I don’t know, but I’ll definitely be finding out!!!”
However, it's worth noting that Meyers’ deal was done a while back. NBC announced last May that he had already signed a four-year extension. The 'Saturday Night Live' alum is locked in through 2028, and his production company, Sethmaker Shoemeyers, has a parallel deal with Universal Studio Group to churn out content across NBCUniversal platforms.
Meyers sounded perfectly happy when the contract was revealed. He told Deadline he was “not in any way, shape, or form bored with doing this,” saying, “thanks to the luxury of hours you can fill in a week, there’s always room for reinvention.”
Donald Trump circling names since Stephen Colbert’s axing
President Trump’s gripe with Seth Meyers is only the latest in his long-running campaign against late-night TV hosts. Just weeks ago, he was celebrating the downfall of Stephen Colbert after CBS announced 'The Late Show' would wrap next year despite being the top-rated program in its time slot.
That bombshell dropped just days before the Trump administration signed off on the $8.4 billion Paramount–Skydance merger, raising more than a few eyebrows in DC. Paramount insisted Colbert’s axing was purely financial, citing a $40 million annual loss.
But critics—including Colbert, his team, and CBS staffers—aren't buying that rationale. House Democrats have even launched an investigation into whether Paramount violated anti-bribery laws, with special attention on the $16 million the company forked over to Trump to settle a CBS News lawsuit.
Trump immediately started circling names following Colbert’s ouster.
“The word is, and it's a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, [Jimmy] Fallon will be gone,” he crowed online. “These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television. It's really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”
He doubled down at a press conference earlier this month. “They’re next. They’re going to be going. I hear they’re going to be going," he said. "I don’t know, but I would imagine because they’d get – you know, Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon.”
Seth Meyers fires back
Seth Meyers hasn't remained quiet. The comic has been sharpening his monologues to skewer the president’s apocalyptic rhetoric.
“You can see how detached from reality this press conference was in the way Trump talked about DC like it was a dystopian hellhole in a steampunk novel,” Meyers joked recently. “So clearly what happened was he fell asleep watching Fox News, rolled over on the remote, accidentally changed the channel to HBO, woke up, saw ‘Mad Max - Fury Road’ - thought it was still the news.”
Despite Trump’s latest rant, NBC tied up Meyers’ deal last year, and it runs through at least 2028. His production shop is locked in, and he’s far from ready to hand over the desk by his own admission.
“As part of the agreement, Meyers’ production company Sethmaker Shoemeyers, which he runs with Late Night showrunner Mike Shoemaker, will produce content across NBCUniversal platforms after extending its deal with the studio," Deadline reported when the deal was signed.
There are no reports of fresh negotiations between Meyers and the network.
