While viewers love to believe that the smiling faces that greet them every evening on late-night talk shows are squeaky clean, no one is perfect. And almost every late-night talk show host has dealt with some type of public controversy. Some date back many years and some were arguably the result of a misunderstanding.

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In some cases, the talk show hosts embraced the controversy and in others, the controversy involved the host actually being in the right, not the wrong. Here are some of the biggest controversies for some of the most well-known late-night talk show hosts, all of which became the subject of juicy gossip.

8 Jimmy Kimmel And Kids Table

Jimmy Kimmel, long-time host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, has dealt with a number of controversies through his career, though he has taken them all in stride and managed to bounce back stronger than ever. The first notable one came when he made a joke about "burning the city of Detroit down" if the Detroit Pistons beat the Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals. After pushback from a local ABC affiliate TV station because of the tasteless joke, he apologized on air.

There was also that Academy Awards controversy when the wrong Best Picture winner was announced, though that wasn't exactly his fault. But the biggest was during a 2013 segment of his talk show called Kids Table where he spoke to young kids about the U.S. government shutdown. When one child made a disparaging remark about the people of China, Kimmel turned it into a joke, which didn't sit well with viewers. Again, he apologized on air stating that he thought it was obvious he wasn't being serious.

7 Jimmy Fallon And Donald Trump

While Fallon recently found himself in hot water due to a video resurfacing of him impersonating Chris Rock in blackface make-up on an old Saturday Night Live sketch, he got in just as much hot water when interviewing then-presidential candidate Donald Trump on The Tonight Show in 2016.

Many criticized the popular late-night talk show host for avoiding asking Trump pressing questions and being playful with him, including even tousling his hair. While some believed Fallon should have used his platform for more, is The Tonight Show a political program? Not really. Nonetheless, they felt the fact that he got the interview suggested he should have done more with it.

6 Conan O'Brien And The Tonight Show

O'Brien's biggest controversy had a lot to do with him but it was more about what was done to him and not anything he did. After being given the illustrious gig of host of The Tonight Show, O'Brien's time ended after less than a year when the network wanted to bring Jay Leno back into the 11:30 p.m. timeslot.

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The decision was reportedly made because of a drop in ratings, but many felt the network did not give O'Brien enough time to get comfortable as the new host, and felt it was unfair to the long-time talk show host and talented writer.

5 Jay Leno And The Tonight Show

Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien on the set of The Tonight Show
Via: NBC

As per the above, Jay Leno supposedly handed the reigns for The Tonight Show over to Conan O'Brien while he started his own primetime show. Neither was doing well and NBC discussed moving Leno back to late night and pushing O'Brien back to a 12:05 a.m. start.

The whole deal left a sour taste in viewers' mouths who felt that Leno should have stepped aside and let O'Brien step in and work his way towards higher ratings. Nonetheless, Leno eventually ended up returning to The Tonight Show in 2010, despite having previously "retired" from it and stayed on through to 2014.

4 David Letterman And Blackmail

Fans of Late Night with David Letterman got a shock one night in 2009 when they tuned in to see a somber-faced Letterman talk to the camera in a way he never had. He was being open and honest about a blackmail plot by someone who was threatening to reveal alleged sexual relationships Letterman had with several female employees.

Letterman took matters into his own hands and admitted on air that it was true and advised that he, along with authorities, conducted a sting operation to uncover who the blackmailer was. Joe Halderman, a producer of the show 48 Hours, was arrested after he tried to deposit a fake check and was sentenced to six months in prison.

3 Bill Maher And Religulous

For a man who used to host a show called Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, the funny man's middle name is controversy! And he has experienced his share of it in the spotlight. Maher has had many guests on his show that resulted in controversy, either due to what they said or the fact that he had them on in the first place.

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Really, much of Maher's opinions on religion and politics are pretty controversial. On the former, he made them very clear in his film Religulous that pokes fun at the concept of religion as a whole. While many found the film both offensive and funny, others found it just plain offensive.

2 Jon Stewart On Crossfire

While appearing on the series Crossfire alongside CNN correspondent Tucker Carlson in 2004, Stewart declared that the show was "hurting America" and called both Carlson and his co-host Paul Begala "partisan hacks."

This sparked tons of controversy, leading Stewart to address what happened on The Daily Show. Except he didn't apologize. Instead, he bluntly stated that he didn't like the show and he thought it fitting to tell them personally. "Apparently, when you invite someone on a show called Crossfire and you express an opinion," he said in his statement, "they don't care for that."

1 Stephen Colbert And The 2006 White House Correspondents' Dinner

When Colbert was invited to serve as the featured entertainer for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, his scathing routine targeting President George W. Bush didn't quite sit well with attendees. He was doing it as his politically conservative character from The Colbert Report, but his audience wasn't really rolling with it.

The video blew up on the Internet and interestingly led to a rise in ratings of Colbert's show. Later on, Frank Rich, a columnist for the New York Times, called the routine a "defining moment" of the midterm elections.

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