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What has Jimmy Fallon said about Rolling Stone Tonight Show allegations?
Fallon, the host of The Tonight Show, is reported to have said sorry to colleagues after he was accused of creating a toxic work environment.
Jimmy Fallon has reportedly apologised to colleagues at The Tonight Show after current and former staffers interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine accused the TV programme’s host of creating a toxic workplace environment.
According to Rolling Stone, Fallon - who has presented the primetime chat show since 2014 - said sorry on a Zoom call on Thursday evening.
What Fallon said to his Tonight Show colleagues:
“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” Fallon is reported to have said. “Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you.” The 48-year-old is also said to have told Tonight Show employees that he did not intend to “create that type of atmosphere for the show”.
“I want the show to be fun, [it] should be inclusive to everybody,” Fallon said to his colleagues, per Rolling Stone. “It should be the best show.”
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Rolling Stone investigation reveals “ugly environment”
In an in-depth article published on Thursday morning, 16 present and past Tonight Show staffers told Rolling Stone journalist Krystie Lee Yandoli about their negative experiences of working under Fallon at the NBC show.
Fallon was described as “erratic”, with suggestions that he had turned up to work drunk and hungover. Some former Tonight Show employees told Yandoli that their mental health had been adversely affected by working on the programme.
Yandoli revealed: “They say the ugly environment behind the scenes starts at the top with Fallon’s erratic behaviour, 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.”
“You never knew which Jimmy you were going to get”
Staffers also said they had been “belittled and intimidated” by Tonight Show bosses, including Fallon, and were fearful of the host.
“Employees describe being afraid of Fallon’s ‘outbursts’ and unexpected, inconsistent behavior,” Yandoli reported. “Many of these staffers voiced their concerns through HR complaints, but problems at The Tonight Show persisted.”
One former employee told Rolling Stone: “You never knew which Jimmy we were going to get and when he was going to throw a hissy fit.”