Whenever anyone thinks back to the awkward fiasco when Jay Leno left The Tonight Show only to return a few years later, obviously, the person who got screwed over the most was Conan O’Brien. Thanks to Leno sticking around on NBC for The Jay Leno Show at an earlier time slot, the whole thing was very awkward for everyone involved and ultimately ended with O’Brien getting screwed out of The Tonight Show gig.
However, what isn’t discussed much is how Jimmy Kimmel got pulled into the situation. While stopping by Bill Maher‘s podcast, Leno opened up about the infamous Tonight Show fracas and how he’s since apologized to Kimmel for how the whole thing shook out. According to Leno, he was in talks to go over to ABC for a new show that would’ve pushed Jimmy Kimmel Live! into a later time slot, which Kimmel was actually onboard with because it could give him a better lead-in than Nightline. But Leno ended up staying at NBC, and he apparently never called Kimmel to let him know what happened, which apparently added to some bad blood that already existed between the two.
Via Deadline:
“I suppose I should have called Jimmy and explained to him again, but I didn’t. I don’t know why I didn’t. I just didn’t. I thought he probably would figure it out. But I think maybe he was hurt by that, and I apologized to him for that,” added Leno.
The You Bet Your Life host added that he thought Kimmel was “really funny” and did a great job hosting the Oscars. “It’s just one of those awkward situations where he was a huge Letterman guy and when Letterman didn’t get The Tonight Show, somehow it was my fault. I think he resented that and I get that. But, Dave never had The Tonight Show,” he added.
Obviously, compared to Conan, Kimmel came out of The Tonight Show situation practically unscathed, but clearly, Leno isn’t happy with how he handled things and felt the need to make things right. Of course, that didn’t stop Kimmel from getting in a jab at Leno during Conan’s final TBS broadcast last year.
“Here’s to Conan and Andy Richter and everybody involved with that show. We look forward to whatever you have planned next at HBO Max,” Kimmel said. “And I also want to say, congratulations to Jay Leno on his new time slot at TBS.”
(Via Deadline)