This week, Rolling Stone published an exclusive about the toxic environment behind-the-scenes at the Tonight Show. Jimmy Fallon took over as host of the Tonight Show in 2014, after a chaotic late-night debacle featuring Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and terrible NBC executives. O’Brien was supposed to host the Tonight Show, but he got screwed out of the gig and NBC ended up hiring Fallon to host. While Fallon’s Tonight Show has been a “ratings winner” most of the time, it’s apparently been a pretty terrible work environment for much of Fallon’s tenure. From Rolling Stone:
According to two current and 14 former employees, The Tonight Show has been a toxic workplace for years — far outside the boundaries of what’s considered normal in the high-pressure world of late-night TV. They say the ugly environment behind the scenes starts at the top with Fallon’s erratic behavior, and has trickled down to its ever-changing leadership teams — nine showrunners in the past nine years — who seemingly don’t know how to say no to Jimmy. Former employees describe The Tonight Show as a tense and “pretty glum atmosphere,” with some alleging they were belittled and intimidated by their bosses, including Fallon himself. Employees describe being afraid of Fallon’s “outbursts” and unexpected, inconsistent behavior. Many of these staffers voiced their concerns through HR complaints, but problems at The Tonight Show persisted.
Seven former employees say their mental health was impacted by their alleged experiences working at The Tonight Show. These staffers say it was commonplace to hear people joking about “wanting to kill themselves,” and that they would refer to guests’ dressing rooms in the office as “crying rooms” because that’s where they would go to let out their emotions when they were upset with their alleged mistreatment.
The former staffers who spoke to Rolling Stone requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. They worked in a range of positions on the show, from production crew members to office staffers and in the show’s writers’ room. Many of the former staffers say they left the show because of their mental health; some say they were fired from The Tonight Show.
“It’s a bummer because it was my dream job,” one former employee says. “Writing for late night is a lot of people’s dream jobs, and they’re coming into this and it becomes a nightmare very quickly. It’s sad that it’s like that, especially knowing that it doesn’t have to be that way.”
Representatives for Fallon would not comment on the record for this story. After this report published, however, Fallon apologized to staffers in an all-hands Zoom call. “It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” Fallon said, according to two people who were on the call. “Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you.”
RS spoke to dozens of current and former Tonight Show staffers, and they note that many “praised Fallon’s immense talent and comedic gifts” but absolutely no one had positive things to say about working on Fallon’s Tonight Show. NBC also issued a statement to RS where they didn’t even say Fallon’s name, because they’re too busy covering their asses after letting another male anchor foster a toxic work environment at one of their signature properties at the network. To be clear, the problem isn’t just Jimmy Fallon, but he’s a big part of it. Not just his behavior towards staff, but as the executive producer and (literal) face of the show. It’s very much like the Ellen DeGeneres stuff – while Ellen wasn’t the aggressor in every situation, as producer and host of the show, she fostered the toxic work environment. The situation feels slightly different at the Tonight Show because, frankly, it seems like Fallon is a raging alcoholic who is often drunk at work. That’s not the entire problem, but it’s a big part of the problem.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
It’s interesting that he apologized and said he feels bad about it, but…. is that it? Did he say he would try to change anything? Are they creating, like, an ombudsmen or whistleblowing position?
Btw, a culture thing: Americans apologize quicker than say most Europeans. So what Manda is asking is a very, very good question. The apology is not worth much without change.
Eh. No apology using the word “if” really means anything.
Alicky, True, it’s not.
Where I live, it’s been driving me nuts that they’re so impressed he apologized and did it so quickly. They don’t get that he’s not European so you can’t compare that directly.
Fallon is an alcoholic & unless he gets clean & sober, nothing will change.
His apology here is remarkably similar to the apology he gave after people got upset about him ruffling Trump’s hair.
Not surprised about this because I use the Jennifer Aniston titmuss test for this.
Anyone she is close friends with always end up being horrible people just like her. Ellen D, Joe Francis, Chelsea Handler and now Jimmy Fallon.
Just waiting for Jimmy Kimmel to be exposed soon.
Kimmel kind of exposes himself as a jerk with things like his awards show “bit” at QB’s expense. And his whole past CV
lol
Aw, no, is that true? What about Jason Bateman? I think they are good friends.
IDK about Jason Bateman. I’ve liked his work (Game Night!) and his public persona.
But his whole reaction to Jessica Walter and her experience of being bullied and harassed by Jeffrey Tambor during AD, bringing her to tears, really was awful. (JB and pretty much all the other men present for that interview did not come off well). And his apology about it never rang true to me. So at best, he falls on the AH-tolerant, AH-adjacent end of the AH spectrum for me. At worst? Who knows
https://www.npr.org/2018/05/24/614009165/under-the-skin-why-that-arrested-development-interview-is-so-bad
Jason Bateman has been in Hollywood as an actor, producer, and director for A LONG time and people only have good things to say about him. Not apologizing well-enough for someone else’s behavior does not make him an AH.
Oh, I didn’t think he didn’t apologize well enough someone else’s (JT’s) behavior.
I didn’t buy his apology for HIS OWN behavior- talking over his costar who was trying to answer a question that had been asked *to her* about *her* experience, dismissing her response, explaining away JT’s inappropriate behavior as normal or necessary for an Artiste! or expected on sets, making it clear he sided with JT, wouldn’t agree to continue working on AD unless Jeffrey was included. All the while Jessica Walter was trying to explain how traumatic JT’s behavior had been, how it was the worst harassment, abuse, behavior see had ever seen in decades of professional work in the entertainment industry, he interrupted and talked over her. That was Jason himself doing that. JT and other cast members were there and piped up, but JB was the main one dismissing and talking over and talking down to JW in that interview as though she was not qualified to know what acceptable costar behavior was (she was tears during part of it, the NPR link provides more details, as well as the text of his apology tweets. The audio of it is a really lousy listen because it made me *really* dislike several of who had been some of my favorite comic actors)
Mercury RETROGRADE is moving thru Jimmy’s 7th House (one on on relationships) in Virgo its opposite his 1st House (the self, his literal identity) in Pisces. This transit just made a direct hit. I’m guessing the day the RS piece dropped. Folks, this a’int over. Mercury will make the same transit when it stations and moves direct. YIKES.
I love astrology posts yes tell us more!
I remember the Leno/conan/Fallon debacle differently. Leno retired and Conan did host the tonight show for some time, but then Leno wanted his old job back so they kicked Conan to the curb. That’s when the Team Coco came about and he toured all over the country. Conan went to tbs for a half hour show. Leno retired again and Fallon was hired.
Actually Leno was asked to come back, and he accepted the offer.
Actually the Jay Leno Show he started after he left The Tonight Show wasn’t doing well in it’s 10PM slot. He used his pull to take the Tonight Show’s 11:35 slot which pushed The Tonight Show not starting until 12:05. Conan said if they did that he was out, and they did and he was.
Actually Jay Leno decided in his last year that he didn’t want to retire, threw a fit rather than leave gracefully, and NBC created the 10pm show to placate him, which undermined Conan’s Tonight Show.
The era of not-Tonight Show Leno and Tonight Show Conan, trying to establish his own era, was such a mess NBC eventually picked Leno and Conan went on a multi-month on-air hilarious farewell tour every night – he’d do bits like buy a Bugatti and play Rolling Stones Satisfaction live on the air just to burn ~$3mn. Thus “Team Coco” was born.
That’s how I remember it. Jay Leno was doing a show at 10pm, leading up to the news, which then Conan would go on the normal slot.
Jay Leno never really went away and never gave Conan a chance to succeed- and he would have. Complete garbage move and I’ve never thought of Jay Leno the same way again.
And not surprised about Fallon at all. I’ll never forget how cloying he was with Trump some years ago. No thanks.
There are many of us who remember Jay Leno stabbed Dave Letterman in the back to get the job so now surprise he stabbed Conan in the back too.
I remember Jay having a show at 10PM and Conan having The Tonight Show. But what happened is affiliates got angry because Jay’s show led to lower viewership going into the evening news.
That’s when NBC told Conan he’d be pushed back to the 12:30 timeslot again and he (rightfully) said no way. It was a mess.
That’s how Jimmy Fallon got the job.
Conan really got screwed
I’m not surprised at this. I saw the headline and thought “yeah that tracks.”
I feel like late night shows are going to be super stressful anyway, and the lack of a good showrunner combined with Fallon’s erratic/problematic behavior just seems like the perfect combination for an incredibly toxic environment.
Yeah. He’s a really terrible interviewer — like he can’t read guests at all — so it seems unsurprising that someone with no ability to do that is also terrible at managing employees.
I’ve never watched the show. What’s the story with him being a raging alcoholic? Does he regularly go on air drunk?
That was always the rumor that he was an out of control drunk that liked to party with coed’s and frequently hurt himself in the process.
Fallon famously suffered a ring avulsion injury a year or two back that most everyone chalked up to him being blitzed at the time.
@bettyrose, came here to ask the same question. Nothing in this story seems to to point to alcohol just that he’s an ass.
Idk if I agree. It seemed more to me that they were tip toeing around the issues, perhaps not wanting to get sued. They talk about him smelling like alcohol and being hungover.
Maybe they felt that they couldn’t prove it’s due to alcoholism, but they could discuss the impacts of the environment, so they just focused on that while hinting at the substance abuse when they could.
There’s a Page Six article from 2017, detailing his alcohol abuse and how NBC execs feared it would be the downfall of the show.
@ Steph…he’s an alcoholic
@Purplehazeforever – Alcoholism and substance abuse are pretty common, but showing up drunk on the regular and abusing staff while drunk are especially egregious. I’d have to wonder if that’s not narcissism treated with alcohol.
I only remember incidents where Fallon has had injuries (like hurting his wrist or similar things) and speculation that he might have an alcohol problem? When I saw this headline, I wasn’t surprised honestly.
He seems drunk or under the influence when taping the show sometimes. One interview with Natalie Portman I saw was hard to watch.
I remember an episode where they play is it a lie or something like that and Fallon told a story where he got drunk and woke up in Nashville. It was Pete Davidson and someone else and they said yeah, oh course that’s gotta be absolutely true.
He was always so obnoxious on SNL breaking character when it just seemed false and and an effort to turn focus on himself. I heard Keenan told him NEVER f&cking do that during one of my skits…and he didn’t
And @Slush is right. They said the quiet part out loud without saying it out loud
One of my early jobs was show biz adjacent. One of my coworkers told me to assume all comedians were secretly terrible people. Enjoy their company if things are going well, but don’t assume this is how they always are. Good advice, has served me well through the years.
Comedy is about pointing out truths other people won’t say. Hard to turn off.
There have been stories about his behavior for years, so I don’t know why anyone would be surprised.
His “apology” was complete garbage. He was sorry the information became pub. He felt awful because of the embarrassment the story caused him, not because the behavior caused any pain to others.
He apologized to his staff, but I think the viewers, aka readers of the RS article, need a genuine response as well. I’m waiting.
“ Fallon apologized to staffers in an all-hands Zoom call. “It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” Fallon said, according to two people who were on the call. “Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you.” “
This is quoting his apology TO his staff. He feels bad about the embarrassment. He says nothing in there about his behavior, which is what led to the embarrassment and is the real problem. His apology is a version of “sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
@Izzy, that “apology” sounds to me like what an awkward middle-schooler would come up with if forced to apologize to a peer. He sounds ridiculous.
Jimmy’s not sorry about anything he did, he’s sorry that RS published that article.
I literally refuse to watch anything with Jimmy Fallon in it. You can tell he’s not a great guy, plus the alcoholic reports and ugh can’t wait until he’s off my tv.
I have always found him really creepy and cannot stand him.
There have also been reports of Fallon treating his wife and kids fairly shabbily – his wife is like 10 years older and had fertility problems, and apparently he doesn’t feel connected to his daughters because they are adopted or were born through surrogacy or something. He just seems childish, selfish and massively self-involved, which is probably why he’s the worst interviewer in late night.
I listen to Conan’s podcast regularly and a few comedians made joke about Jimmy being drunk. Conan passed off it as “it is all rumors”, but in jokey way. I think this was a very badly kept secret.
Even the RS story says he has a substance abuse problem without saying he has a substance abuse problem: “Fallon’s “outbursts” and unexpected, inconsistent behavior.” Next thing you know he will check in to Promises Malibu with “exhaustion”
Fallon is awful – but what was more galling to me was the show runner who made racists comments about Black employees’ hair, comments about people’s weight, etc. And not only did HR not do anything, but they told the show runner what was said (which should have been confidential – that’s HR 101) and who said it! That entire organization is corrupt from top to bottom.
I can’t say I’m surprised by this, but it’s a shame. Talk shows in general seem like they are breeding grounds for toxicity and bad behavior, but this is made worse by him being a problem too.
There has long been rumours that he is an alcoholic. Apparently he’s spotted out in a bar in East Village regularly and has had numerous alcohol related injuries including degloving his finger
He’s still not adept yet at managing his booze to coke ratio after all these years.
No surprise to me. This has been hinted at for years. Ever since the rumors/confirmation that he is an alcoholic, I’ve been waiting for this. Also that nonapology is gross. “I’m embarrassed” “I’m sorry if” FUCK OFF
This anecdote from Tina Fey’s book “Bossypants” is making the rounds, in light of this story. The setting was the SNL writers room:
“Amy was in the middle of some such nonsense with Seth Meyers across the table, and she did something vulgar as a joke. I can’t remember what it was exactly, except it was dirty and loud and ‘unladylike.’ Jimmy Fallon, who was arguably the star of the show at the time, turned to her and in a faux-squeamish voice said: ‘Stop that! It’s not cute! I don’t like it.’
“In response, Amy dropped what she was doing, went black in the eyes for a second, and wheeled around on him. ‘I don’t fucking care if you like it.’ Jimmy was visibly startled. Amy went right back to enjoying her ridiculous bit.”
That was one of my favorite anecdotes from that book. I feel like I need to respond that way more!
Speaking of Seth Myers, it’s really a study in contrasts, right? He seems to have a great reputation, very little staff turn over, etc.
That’s awesome but he was never the star of SNL
Never liked him.
He isn’t funny and I can’t stand his face.
Ever since Fallon playfully tussled Trump’s hair, I’ve been disgusted by him. He was rightfully accused of humanizing Trump.
This right here.
Isn’t he the one who kissed up to Trump during a pre-election interview? Trump even asked Jimmy to touch his hair (to see that it was real) and I believe Jimmy did. Toxic asshole energy from them both.
I’d like to submit into evidence Kristen Bell’s Idaho vacation photo.
They all seem like one toxic bunch and it’s obvious as to why they are all friends.
The Tonight Show hasn’t been a “ratings winner” for years. And I mean years. Colbert overtook him and has never looked back. TTS keeps scrambling because that was never supposed to happen and everyone is on edge—like, how could you lose such a commanding lead with all the name recognition? It’s David Letterman’s final f you to NBC, lol.
What would the Apostles have to say about the “real Jesus?” I guess you really can’t know what someone is like based on their TV persona.
JF is a huge AH. He went to my college (didn’t graduate) and literally no one has a good word to say about him except one very diplomatic professor. Just a slimy, smarmy, creepy AH.
Having worked in a few toxic environments in my day, I can only hope he gets replaced, and fast, by someone who isn’t an abusive little narcissist. I was originally going to say I hoped he’d get Ellened, but why should his staff lose their jobs? Just replace Booze Boy and his enablers.
Tbh where is place that doesn’t have a toxic work environment. You have too many people with their own ambitions, favorites and agendas that mandatory ethics training is sometimes a joke.
His apology is a joke. How self absorbed do you need to be to not realize you have been creating and enabling a toxic environment? 🙁