KREMLIN IN HIS BOOTS

Putin’s Goons Melt Down Over Trump’s Late-Night Nemesis

Seth Meyers’ off-color joke had the Russian Embassy up in arms.

Seth Meyers has turned a late-night punchline into an international incident.

The Russian Embassy lashed out at the Late Night host over a joke he made Thursday night about the death of the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Meyers, a longtime critic of President Donald Trump, drew the ire of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government with a joke about Alexander Darchiev, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington, who died Wednesday.

“Russia announced yesterday that its ambassador to the U.S. died from a chronic illness in Moscow,” Meyers, 52, began, before adopting a thick Russian accent to deliver the punchline: “Said a spokesman, ‘Yes, he came down with bad case of gravity.’”

The image behind him on the screen was of an open window in a skyscraper.

The audience groaned and laughed lightly, prompting Meyers to continue in his mock Russian accent.

“You don’t care for that joke. I will take your names down,” he said, ending the bit.

The embassy waited until Friday afternoon to respond to Meyers, calling the joke an unbecoming stunt.

“Disgusting ‘joke’ by @LateNightSeth on Ambassador’s Darchiev passing, who has devoted his life for the betterment of Russia-U.S. relations, building bridges between our nations,“ the post on X began.

“Such stunts are unbecoming for anyone with even a shred of decency & humanity. Even his own audience found it cringe & unfunny.”

Darchiev was appointed ambassador to the U.S. in 2025, having served as ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2021. Putin tapped him for the role in March 2025, as the Trump administration shifted away from the Biden administration’s approach to supporting Ukraine.

“We have lost an outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader, a kind colleague and a mentor. An exceptional professional and a distinguished expert on the United States, Alexander Darchiev served in one of the most demanding areas of Russian foreign policy,” a statement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry said, announcing his death.

Meyers’ joke appears to be a reference to a series of suspicious deaths involving prominent Russians, including that of Ravil Maganov in 2022. Maganov, 67, was the chairman of Russia’s second-largest oil producer, Lukoil, and died after falling from a hospital window in Moscow.

Maganov’s death was one of a string of suspicious deaths of Russian oligarchs and business leaders.

The Russian Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Sarah-Jane CollinsReporter

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