Craig Ferguson Says ‘Late Late Show’ Retirement Has Nothing to Do With Letterman
Yesterday saw 'The Late Late Show' host Craig Ferguson announcing his imminent exit from the 10-year series in December, a move speculated to result from Stephen Colbert taking over David Letterman's 'Late Show,' where it seemed Ferguson had been overlooked. Now, video of Ferguson announcing his exit has arrived, while the 'Late Late Show' host insists his retirement has nothing to do with Letterman or Colbert.
"People want it to be Jay and Dave or Jay and Conan or some kind of big story," Ferguson told Variety of his imminent exit, downplaying any notions that CBS passing him over to replace Letterman played into the decision. "That’s not me, that’s not what I want...I had no desire — none — to do that job. I could barely keep it together at 12:30, never mind 11:30. Nobody wants to hear it. It’s so bizarre."
In fact, Ferguson claimed that his exit had been in the works before David Letterman surprised audiences of his 2015 departure:
It wasn’t contentious. I was just like, ‘I feel like I’m done. We were all fine and were tying up loose ends. And then Dave surprised everybody with the announcement and that threw a spanner in the works. And I had to sit and keep my mouth shut while speculation raged wildly.
Meanwhile during the announcement itself, Ferguson kept things short and sweet by assuring that his "conscious uncoupling" with CBS remains amicable, while guest L.L. Cool J extolled how much he'd miss the 'Late Late Show' host. The 'NCIS: LA' actor joked that Ferguson's departure "wasn't very 'Braveheart,'" to which Ferguson countered that he'd won his freedom all the same.
You can check out video of Ferguson's retirement announcement below, and tell us in the comments what you think! Will you miss teh 'Late Late Show' host after his December exit? Who do you think should replace him to follow Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show'?