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An NBC spokesperson is suddenly telling me new and important behind-the-scenes details about Leno and his Tonight Show monologue which the WGA isn’t. That, on Monday at WGA headquarters, Jay Leno set up a meeting with WGA West president Patric Verrone and The Tonight Show writers and some other WGA members and informed them he was going to write and perform his own monologue when he went back on the air Wednesday. “Patric Verrone said, ‘We’re going to look the other way.’ And there were a lot of witnesses in that room,” the spokesperson just told me. “So if Patric Verrone now disputes that he told Jay he could do the monologue, why weren’t there further actions by the WGA between Monday and Wednesday?”
As everyone now knows, Leno not only delivered his trademark standup opening last night, he also admitted that he’d written his own monologue. The NBC spokesperson tells me that, after I broke the story on Deadline Hollywood Daily that Leno — a WGA union member like almost all of the late night TV hosts — broke the guild’s strike rules by writing his own monologue, ”reached out” to Verrone again this morning.
“Jay called Verrone to restate and rediscuss what had been agreed to on Monday. And at that point Verrone said, ‘You’re in violation.’ And Jay said, ‘I’m not. We talked about this on Monday. And I support the writers. I support the union. I’m within my legal right to do this monologue.’ ”
The NBC spokesperson characterized it as “a cordial conversation”. But the network and the Leno were surprised by the WGA terse statement this afternoon: “A discussion took place today between Jay Leno and the Writers Guild to clarify to him that writing for The Tonight Show constitutes a violation of the Guilds’ strike rules.”
Soon after, NBC issued its own statement: “The WGA agreement permits Jay Leno to write his own monologue for The Tonight Show. The WGA is not permitted to implement rules that conflict with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement between the studios and the WGA.”
Now I hear NBC is consulting with its lawyers to figure this all out. But I’m told that the network and Leno are both pissed at what they see as the WGA’s talking-out-of-both-sides-of-its-mouth behavior here. “Especially considering that no one has been more supportive of the striking writers than Jay,” the NBC spokesperson told me.
- NBC: Leno Can Write His Monologue; WGA: He Can’t But We Don’t Want War
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- WGA Reminds Returning Jay And Conan: No Monologues
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Dude… the conflicting lies coming from Leno and NBC about that meeting are simply staggering.
If Verrone did suggest the union would turn a blind eye to Jay writing and performing his own monologue, that means everyone in the room knew Jay’s monologue would be in violation of the strike rules… which moots his claim that he’s well within his legal rights.
Why would the union turn a blind eye to the monologue issue, when they agonized over striking NBC when their late night shows went back on the air? Why would they give Leno a free pass when they’re not extending the same courtesy to every other talk show host who’s back at work?
If NBC was going to the trouble of getting a by for Leno, why didn’t they get one for O’Brien, too?
Isn’t it interesting that the NBC spokesman says the union’s talking out of both sides of its mouth when that’s been the studio’s behavior through all this?
If Jay was sure they’d reached an agreement on Monday about his being allowed to write his own monologue, then why did he need to call Verrone on Thursday to reach out and rediscuss what had been covered Monday?
Ever since the announcement was made that he’d go back to work, Jay’s known EXACTLY what the strike rules were, as he received them in writing. He and his attorneys have been looking for a way to circumvent the rules all this time. And all the while, he’s playing “ignorant”…
Can the WGA do more than simply kick him out? Please?
Jay is a fucking SCAB.
I hate his guts now.
People watch these shows because (a) they like something about the host and his sensibility and (b) the guest for the night.
regardless if there are writers or not, jay will still win on (a) but hopefully, with SAGs help, dave will win on (b).
and that’s nothing against jay, but just the company who he works for who refuses to come back to the bargaining table. (its not so great that dave is helping cbs make money either. but as all the hosts were going to come back with or without their writers — dave included — at least it’s a small victory for the guild.)
jay is writing his own monologue like dave did in ’88.
why all the hate? let’s focus on the bigger issues, please? like the fact that it’s been 27 days and counting since nick counter and the other members of the AMPTP’s team abandoned the negotiating table.
they and they alone are responsible for thousands being out of work.
In ’88, the strike rules permitted hosts to write their own material. Guess what? The rules have subsequently been changed! But I guess claiming that if this were ’88 he wouldn’t be in violation is about the best defense Leno has.
Don’t understand why some people here are badmouthing Conan.
Yes he went back (probably under pressure from NBC), but he did not write a monologue or any jokes. His whole show was ad-libbed!
Dear George Glass,
I often agree with you, I sometimes don’t. But you seem to be one of the few that see the big picture. Your comments are strong without being antagonistic and devisive. Thank you for expressing your views respectfully and not providing the AMPTP with the divide of “divide and conquer.” I wish more would follow your lead in their comments.
Jay’s announcer, John Melendez, donned a Borat banana hammock on the show last night (where were my sunglasses?), after which Jay said please let the writers come back so we don’t have to witness this again.
Then out comes Howie Mandel, who said he passed Melendez on the stairway and noticed that Melendez appeared to have shaved his netherparts in anticipation of the bit. It’s impossible to tell whether Mandel was joking — it never is — but my instinct was that if what he said was true, does that mean that that piece of business was scripted?
I’m not a WGA member, so I don’t quite understand what constitutes “scripted.” Clearly it had to have been discussed ahead of time that Melendez would wear the suit, but was it on paper anywhere? Should/would it have been had there been no strike? Or Did Melendez just wing it after horrifying people during the undress rehearsal?