Jay Leno faced intense scrutiny when NBC decided to have the veteran comedian return to The Tonight Show in 2010, ending Conan O’Brien’s tenure on the program after a single year. While O’Brien and fellow talk shows David Letterman voiced criticism against Leno for the decision, few voiced such avid outcry as Jimmy Kimmel, who repeatedly mocked Leno during his Tonight Show appearance in 2010.
Much of the exchange came as a direct result of O’Brien’s unceremonious ousting from The Tonight Show, which many viewed as disrespectful towards the former Late Night with Conan O’Brien host.
Sitting down for an interview on The Tonight Show shortly after O’Brien’s dismissal made national headlines, Jimmy Kimmel delivered several harsh jokes about the controversy, each of which pointedly critiqued Leno and his return to the NBC program.
At one point in the show, Leno said to Kimmel, “You’re known for pranks. What’s the best prank you ever pulled?”
Kimmel immediately answered by saying, “I think the best prank I ever pulled was, 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.”
As reported by Variety, in a a recent interview with In Depth With Graham Bensinger, Leno spoke about his reaction to Kimmel’s japes, saying that the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host repeatedly ‘humiliated’ him during their interview.
“When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen. I didn’t edit it,” the 75-year-old comedian said. “It was my mistake, I trusted somebody. I went, ‘Ah, I made a mistake. Okay, I should pay the price.’ And it’s fine, it’s fine. I mean, we could have edited it out of the show.
Reflecting on the personal animosity between himself and Kimmel, Leno made clear he doesn’t hold any ill feelings towards his 57-year-old colleague, although he does regret that the exchange continues to remain relevant to this day.
“It’s not good TV for me because it started a whole thing that continues to this day, really,” Leno explained. “But it’s okay, it’s alright. He’s a comic — you do what you gotta do. I mean, I wouldn’t have done it, but that’s okay. That’s alright. It is what it is.”
In more recent years, both comedians have since patched up their differences, with Kimmel stating he had “made peace” with Leno after the latter called him when Kimmel’s son underwent open heart surgery in 2017.
