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Not since the Helen Kushnick debacle 15 years ago when his manager crashed and burned as The Tonight Show‘s exec producer has Jay Leno taken such a terrible PR wallop as he did today. Today’s Drudge headline, misleadingly, says “Leno fires staff” when what happened is that about 120 of the show’s non-writing staffers today were laid off by NBC due to Leno’s refusal along with the rest of the Top 5 late night hosts to cross WGA picket lines (since they’re all guild members and supporting the writers). And everyone knows Jay was treated horribly by NBC which ordered him to leave in 2009 to make way for Conan – the result of yet another shake-up orchestrated by Jeff Zucker in a brutal way. Problem is, Leno looks like a shit for lotsa other reasons.
The worst is that news reports trumpeted that, just a couple of days after the WGA strike began November 5th, he assured staffers they didn’t have to worry because their paychecks would be safe. 
So I was told many of the laid-off employees left NBC’s Burbank offices this morning in a sea of tears and expressing a sense of betrayal and wondering aloud “Where’s Jay?” (Along with some vocal muttering about the big bucks he spends on his famous car collection…) True, Jay’s Big Dog Productions only co-produces The Tonight Show whereas David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants owns The Late Show and The Late Late Show and is paying production staff. But today Conan O’Brien, whose company Conaco also doesn’t own Late Night, began picking up the tab for his show’s 80 employees which sure puts Leno in an awkward position since he hasn’t. Especially since it’s so well known that Jay lives off his outside gigs and banks his Tonight Show salary.
It’s one thing to be angry at NBC and not want to help the network, yet quite another to not financially help The Tonight Show employees who helped make him No. 1 in the ratings pre-strike. Instead of doing it himself, Leno had his assistant notify the staff yesterday that they would get their Christmas bonus early. Well, big fucking deal. (One news report said the bonus is only $100 for each year worked.) I, for one, don’t understand why right now Leno isn’t front and center or making a statement or otherwise protecting his public image — especially if he exits NBC to jump-start Fox’s late night talk in 2009.
- Conan O’Brien To Pay Staff
- WGA Scolds Carson Daly For Returning ‘To Support Staff’ And Seeking Scab Jokes
- Letterman Confirms He’s Paying His Staff
- Dave Opens Own Wallet To Pay His Staff
- Tonight Show Returns With Guest Hosts After Leno’s Nonwriting Staff Laid Off
- Strike Forces Late Night TV Into Repeats
- Leno vs NBC: Last Night’s Latest Round…
- Is Leno Starting to Hint About His Future?
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I’m usually a fan of Leno’s but this is rotten.
Doesn’t he make $30 million+ a year? What’s the problem here? Maybe if he sold a few of his 492 cars he’d have some spare change for his staff. Hell, give em each a car! Do SOMETHING!
It’s really sad – the guy appears to have no spine and no class. Sure, he might be upset with NBC, but his staff has nothing to do with it and the network is just doing what a network does in this situation – cutting losses and trying to put pressure on the WGA and show host. Letterman and Conan come off as heroes and Leno comes off very, very badly – and then there’s Ellen.
Maybe now you’ll get it, Nikki. Jay is not a very nice guy. He’s cheap and he’s mean. Wait until the people who know start talking. America will see a different view of this guy that some of us experienced first hand. I have never understood why you give him such leeway. The way he dislikes women he can’t think much of you.
This kind of negative press about Jay everywhere is making me worried that he’ll end up going back to work. People are coming down on him hard all over the Internet and I don’t know that it’s gonna have the best outcome. He seems like good guy. He’ll probably do something but people should stop slamming him. And Drudge is an asshole for his misleading headline. He was one of the first out there on the front lines. I don’t think he should be turned on so quickly…
Jay Leno is the best boss I’ve ever had.
Um, Nikki, did it occur do you that the Christmas bonus being referred to was their salary until the end of the year?
Jay couldn’t show up as you insist he should as that would be crossing the picket line.
Jay has been nothing but supportive of the strike and his staff and is considered one of the best bosses to have in Hollywood.
Please leave the muckraking to Drudge. You’re better than that.
There is so much going on with late night that it is really hard to pidgeon hole it.
Jay not owning the show is significant.
Dave owns his..if you don’t know the difference, ask your accountant. He’ll explain it to you.
As sad as it is his staff left in tears, I sure the hell respect him more for not returning to work. Carson Daly is making my skin crawl. There is no way Carson returning to work for a live show versus a repeat is a huge ratings boost. He got played by NBC. But the bottom line he returned. Which is pathetic. And Ellen although she is not late night, her return a big whooping 36 hours after the strike is equally skin crawling.
So, sure if people want to put dave and conan on a pedestal, fine. But Jay not caving is significant.
Without getting into what I think about Leno, there’s certainly something fishy about the Drudge headline.
Drudge must have a beef with Leno. Drudge almost always just copies & pastes the headline of whatever he links to unless it’s some he hates.
Var’s hed is more accurate & fair to Leno, even though Jay is acting like a jackass & GE toady here. Is this his way of telling Jeff Immelt that he’s open to an offer & he’s not going to Fox or ABC in 2009?
BTW, in that doc a couple of years ago, Jay boasted that he’s never spent a penny of the money NBC pays him, now $25 mil a year. He said he lives off of his comedy & corporate gig earnings.
hey hey hey, enough with the foul language, my 9 year old reads this site.
Jay hasn’t touched a penny of his TS salary in years, he lives off of the money he makes doing his standup gigs on the weekends. He could easily afford to pay his staff. Conan doesn’t make the same amount of dough and doesn’t do outside gigs but he’s paying.
Jay’s a nice guy but this is a very bad move. A cheap one at the very least.
As talented as Jay is, his big weakness is a reliance on others to handle “business matters”. Helen was a perfect example of this. He has still not broken out of that mold because his is a true “comedian” personality in that he desperately needs to be liked by as many people as possible. He is very reactive with a slow almost john Kerry like reaction time to major problems because he would just rather hope the problems go away or resolve themselves than act on something that would upset someone.
So what nbc Burbank lot talk show host would YOU like to be working for now? Those dirty, awful scabs Carson & Ellen, or the guy who promised the crew everything would be ok, then sold out everyone on his staff and crew for 8 a few writers and his personal grudge against NBC, and didn’t even bother to show up or speak for himself? Let’s be real, if Jay weren’t getting replaced soon he would have been working weeks ago…he cares about himself, and that’s it.
Look, this is no surprise to those who work for Leno or have worked for him for a while. the people crying were new. the rest of us have known for years that this guy is completely different from his public image, and is not a good guy. to add insult to injury they passed out checks from $100 to $400 and then fired everyone. Thanks, Jay. But at least the rest of the world now sees what a schmuck you are. You may be shamed into paying us, but it’s too late for your reputation.
Nikki –
I think you are being unfair to Jay Leno.
Did you ever consider how badly NBC has treated Jay in the recent past — and that he might be torn over what to do? I am not a fan of his show — but you can’t deny his success, popularity and talent… He’s also been a money making juggernaut for NBC… Yet, he gets squeezed out of his job by short sighted execs.
Can you really blame Jay for not wanting to help a franchise and a network that has treated him so badly?
Keep in mind that Jay was also on the picket lines day in and day out bringing donuts, etc. Say what you will about Jay’s show… but you’ll never convince me that he’s heartless about his staff… Ask anyone whose ever worked for him how loyal he’s been to his staff… among writers, getting a job on his show means a virtual lifetime job as long as Jay keeps hosting the show.
Maybe it’s because NBC basically fired Jay three years ago?
What no one has said yet is that David Letterman, Conan, Jay, Jimmy Kimmel, NBC who owns The Tonight Show, ABC etc. are all making money during the strike
by airing reruns of each of these shows. There are commercials being sold and money is coming into these shows (make that a great deal of money every night even though these shows are in repeats)— so it’s really nothing for David Letterman and Conan to pay their staffs-And Jay would hardly feel it in his wallet if he were to pay his staff too- after all- he like Dave, Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig F. is also currently collecting money nightly via the reruns of his show.
So it’s Jay’s “responsibility” to support his staff during the strike? Give me a damn break. BLAME THE STRIKING WRITERS! That’s why you don’t have a job.
No doubt it was a classy move by Dave and Conan, but why is everyone coming down on Jay? Do writers have double standards? Why is Jay being held to a different standard then the dozens of primetime show runners with six figure episodic salaries and back end points? How much are Tina Fey, Chuck Lorre, Anthony Zuiker, et al paying their laid off crews? Jay is honoring the WGA strike while violating his contract with NBC, as is Tina Fey. But where’s the outrage with your precious Tina? Thanks, Jay! The bear claw was much appreciated! Tina where’s my donut?!?
either way, can’t stand the tonight show with jay leno
the “humor” is misogynistic and dumb
jay is creepy how he leers at the female guests as they pass by his desk
he only knows how to make juvenile sexual jokes to his guests that you can see coming a mile away and the guests look irritated and uncomfortable.
jon stewart never pulls that garbage. maybe he will when he turns 50.
Also, Leno having Schwarzenegger use the Tonight Show to campaign, and denying Angelides equal time, was an outrage and so inappropriate. Shame on NBC for rubberstamping it. Jay will fit in at Fox.
No one should lose sight of the fact that NBC just fired all those employees, and NBC should be held accountable for putting people out of work and prolonging this strike.
jay is such a little nebbish..it’s rather disgusting
It simply is not Jay’s responsibility (legally, ethically or morally) to make the payroll of NBC employees not working due to no fault of his own.
The employees are not working due to the the writers strike. If blame must be placed, it must be with them. Strikes hurt the little people. That is the case with airline, automotive and trucking strikes as well. It is not an unintended consequence of a strike. That is by design. All of these hurting people put additional pressures on management to end the strike.
If everyone was being paid every week, management could relax and take their family out shopping or to a restaurant. They cannot do that today, as there is too big of a risk of running into someone out of work.
Thanks, Jay, for not crossing the line. That is all anyone can ask in this situation.
I love the writer’s that blame Jay for the job loses. When in fact if the looked in the mirror they could see who really committed the crime. This Christmas, after I read my 10-year-old daughter Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” I will take her to a picket line and point out the true faces of selfishness and greed… the soul of the unreformed Scrooge marches on! Thank you for ruining Christmas!
Wow. You mean someone in Hollywood says one thing but does another?
Wherever did I hear of such silly stories?
Oh that’s right. Being in the business for near a decade.
Jay Leno – just another showbiz hypocrite who doesn’t deserve any of the money he makes.
(and you’d think he’d use some of that money to shave down that gargantuan chin)
why doesn’t the WGA pay everyone’s salary who loses a job because the WGA is who walked out on the industry…or did i read it all wrong and in reality the “moguls” authorized the strike or locked out the writers? Please provide clarity as to who is really causing people to lose their jobs and who should pay for their lost income because I am REAAAALLYY confused here on who authorized the strike. Facts are facts, start reporting them as such without opinion primarily slanted in one direction. The fact is the WGA walked out, they’re pressuring people to not cross the picket line, they’re the ones causing people to lose their jobs-they’re the ones who should pay.