Celebrities and politicians, including President Barack Obama, have turned out in waves to support and congratulate Caitlyn Jenner for her bravery and Vanity Fair cover, but late-night talk show hosts have done the opposite.
(With the release of her Vanity Fair cover on June 1, Caitlyn has chosen to publicly identify as a woman and E! News will refer to her using female pronouns. In stories published prior to this date, Caitlyn was referred to as Bruce and male pronouns were used.)
With exception to Seth Meyers, who only praised Jenner for her courage, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel decided to mock her for her appearance in the magazine spread. Meyers, on the other hand, went in his own direction.
"Such a wonderful photo, I cannot wait to read the article," Meyers said. "I don't have any jokes about this. I'm so happy. I sort of can't believe we're living in a time when this is happening and people are being so positive about it. So congratulations, Caitlyn Jenner."
The others, however, took a different tone and stance on her breakthrough July cover. During his taping of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel began by saying the biggest news of the day was Jenner's debut. While he noticed that she chose to spell her name with a "C" instead of a "K" like the other Kardashians, his daughter pointed something else out.
"My daughter Katie pointed something out to me—she said 'He's been a woman 3 minutes and he's already hiding his arms.'"
He also joked that Jenner must have been named after this year's Bachelorette, Kaitlyn Bristowe.
The Tonight Show briefly mentioned Jenner's cover story, but used the moment to also make a joke about her body and appearance. "I think the most shocking thing is that it's only June and she's already in bathing suit shape," Fallon quipped. "What's the secret?"
O'Brien, on the other hand, seemed to begin with a compliment about Jenner but quickly turned his comment into a joke. "Bruce Jenner is on the cover of Vanity Fair as her new identity Caitlyn Jenner. This is historic because Caitlyn is the first woman from that family to appear on a cover fully clothed," he joked. "She's actually covered up and tastefully dressed."
When Jenner first announced she was transgender, several late-night hosts made fun of her, but Ellen DeGeneres was quick to defend her.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)