Late night hosts joke about the Grammys, Trump's Sarah Palin endorsement, Ukraine's secret weapons

published 5 April 2022

Stephen Colbert spent a good deal of Monday night's Late Show monologue on Sunday's Grammy Awards, mostly because, as he noted, "Jon Batiste won five Grammys last night!" But the Grammys had more going on than just his bandleader's wins. "One powerful moment was when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an appearance and called on the artists there to support Ukraine" and tell its story, "adding, 'But not you, Kanye, we're dealing with enough already,'" he joked.

"Zelensky's Grammy appearance comes at a critical time for his country," Colbert said. "Russia has almost completely pulled back from the area around Kyiv," and "the world is getting a close look at the horrific path of destruction the Russians have left behind," including "for-sure war crimes." Everyday Ukrainians are finding creative ways to help, too, like leaving Russian looters poisoned food and destroying tank convoys with hobbyist drones, he added. Yes, "Ukraine is stopping Putin by tapping into their most precious resource: bored dads."

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The Grammys were "a good night overall, because nobody's watching the uncensored Japanese version on Twitter," Jimmy Fallon deadpanned on The Tonight Show. Meanwhile, "Sarah Palin has announced that she's running for Congress in Alaska, which is good news for Republicans and great news for Democrats. You know, for someone who can see Russia from her house, she should've known years ago what Putin was up to."

"Palin is running for Congress," and Trump endorsed her, saying in a statement that "'Sarah Palin is tough and smart and will never back down' — even for Trump, it's impressive to fit three lies in an 11-word sentence," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. Trump also held a rally in Michigan on Saturday, and "he did a whole set on how a congressman he doesn't like spells and pronounces his name," he said. "The Meijer family owns one of the biggest supermarket chains in the state of Michigan." Everyone in Trump's crowd shops there, and some "probably work at Meijer," Kimmel noted. "They all know how to pronounce it, but he doesn't so it's wrong. Next he'll try to overturn the spelling bee."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.