Jay Leno Speaks Out About Jimmy Kimmel Getting Take Off Air by ABC
Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno has opened up about Jimmy Kimmel following his “indefinite” suspension from ABC. despite the pair having a contentious history.
Speaking to journalists at Chris Wallace’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday (September 18), Leno was asked about ABC pulling Kimmel off the air after threats from Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr related to comments Kimmel made about the Charlie Kirk shooting on Monday’s (September 14) show.
“I’m on Jimmy Kimmel’s side on that one,” Leno told reporters. “I’m a huge proponent of free speech. Please. I’m on Jimmy Kimmel’s side.”
He added, “You don’t get canceled saying popular things. Usually, it’s the truth that winds up getting canceled, so we’ll see what happens.”
Leno said that “Jimmy will land on his feet,” adding, “He’s a talented guy. He’s funny. And we’ll see what happens.”
“It’s a comedian talking. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it… Let the people decide,” he continued. “If people like a show, it stays on the air. I mean, that’s as simple as that. I enjoy Jimmy. I like all the guys. I think they’re really talented. I like jokes. That’s why I watch them.”
Leno’s comments come after a tense history with Kimmel. In 2010, Kimmel appeared on The Tonight Show and “humiliated” Leno when he brought up the drama surrounding Conan O’Brien. In 2009, O’Brien took over as host of The Tonight Show, only to leave the following year after NBC pushed his show back in place of a new Leno late-night show.
During his Tonight Show appearance, Leno asked Kimmel about his best prank, to which he replied, “I told a guy that five years from now I’m going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly.”
Speaking on In Depth with Graham Bensinger earlier this year, Leno brought up Kimmel’s 2010 Tonight Show appearance, saying, per Daily Beast, that it was a mistake to let Kimmel “humiliate me on my own show.”
“I trusted somebody,” he added. “It started a whole thing that continues to this day really. He’s a comic. You do what you got to do. Okay. I mean, I wouldn’t have done it, but that’s okay. It is what it is.”
Conversation19 Comments
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Actually the people didn't decide, as it wasn't based on ratings. There is no form of life on Earth dumber than the Cheeto cult member.
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Trump is taking his cues out of autocrats and dictators playbooks like Putin and Orban and Kim Jong. Military parades, silencing critics and suppressing media. Nice start. Does the constitution not count if it’s not the second amendment and guns? God help us. And the rich get richer. Its ignorant peoples fault. They fall for it everytime. For example, Trickle down economics should have never been repeated but people in trailers and poor red states fall for it every time. Poorest states in America are majority red and republican and they keep voting for elitist billionaires who blame the migrants picking lettuce and tomatoes for their lack of a middle class job. Etc…
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"Getting Take Off Air"?
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Writing isn't his strong point..
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Jay Leno didn't didn't take Conan's show away from him. Conan's version of the Tonight Show had half the viewership of Jay's and sponsors were abandoning it. It cost NBC a fortune.
If Conan had delivered the goods he'd still be on the Tonight Show.
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Not totally true. It wasn’t half, just a dip. Leno advocated to get his show back and it’s been backed by all the industry insiders. Conan was more famous on a younger targeted audience which NBC wanted to woo. You don’t get that taking a guy off the air before he’s on his feet. Conan is hands down funnier than Leno and has been on the air longer than him if you include his TBS show etc….
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I'm guessing what he said above is also about Stephen Colbert since he had avoided saying something about his cancellation when that was announced a few weeks ago.
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Call Disney/ABC. It's their corporation.
And companies make money; they're not supposed to lose money.
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His ratings were in the tank. His not funny
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Enjoy your autocratic fascist state. Ignorance is bliss. Facts are now fake news. God help us. Nothing to be done. It’s going to really stink when Democrats gain back control and it will happen. Watching you cry for what you have created is going to burn real bad.
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So SSDP...Same S**t Different Party
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getting take, huh?
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ABC would never have caved to affiliates or FCC if Kimmel was making big bank in ratings and dollars every week; if you do you are naive.
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The ratings combined with advertisers leaving resulted in the cancellation. Politics was only the trigger.
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Oh, I dunno an FCC Chairman telling owners "We can do this the hard way, or we can do this the easy way" might've had a bit to do with it...
If you're gonna approve of the same cancel s**t the Dims do, at least quit complaining about them.
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Yep that seems fair.
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Jimmy Kimmel was heard on set saying it couldn't have happened to a better person, then he said, oh wait, it could have... Trump.
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I don't believe that Jimmy Kimmel would ever say anything quite that based.
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You call yourself "Facts" and then post BS.
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