Earlier on Thursday, Rolling Stone published allegations from two current and 14 former employees, including production crew and writers, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. Rolling Stone claimed they had approached an additional 80 current and former employees, but “not a single one agreed to speak on the record or had positive things to say about working on the Tonight Show”.

According to Rolling Stone’s report, multiple sources alleged Fallon had a history of “outbursts” and lashing out at staff when under pressure; that previous senior staff on the show had bullied and belittled them; and that guests’ dressing rooms were commonly known as “cry rooms”, where employees could go let out their stress.

Nine showrunners have worked on the Tonight Show since Fallon took over from Jay Leno in 2014; a much faster turnover than comparable late night shows like Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

  • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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    1 year ago

    They should have given it to Conan when they had the chance but they keep insisting on giving it to soulless narcissists like Leno and Fallon.

    • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This, Conan has always been infinitely funnier, and he still has employees that followed him from the Late Night show that seem to love working with him

    • PapaStevesy@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      They did give it to Conan, then they gave it back to Jay. Like everything else wrong in my life, I blame the boomers.

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Unpopular opinion: Conan SUCKS and is not funny. His personal antics are downright cringey middle school level drek.

      • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, not everyone like all types of humor. By actually having a personality and a distinct sense of humor he opens himself up to not being liked.

        Unlike the charismatic black holes of Falcon and Leno that are just there and fills time until the inevitable heat death of the universe.

        • theragu40@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          At least Leno was an ok interviewer and (at least based on his post tonight shown life) seems not to be a dick.

          Fallon is SUCH a bad interviewer, it is incredibly grating.

          • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Leno on the Tonight Show was just a rotating parade of shills. It was devoid of any soul, community, or any emotion really.

        • Delusional@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Conan acts like that to get a laugh because he isn’t like that at all as a person and everyone knows he is joking. You won’t ever see Fallon or Corden be that way on camera because it’s really how they are in everyday life off camera.

          • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Exactly. It’d be painfully obvious how horrible these guys are if you got to see how their staff reacted, should Fallon or cordon ever decide to do Conan’s “remotes.”

            Speaking of, even with the guy that conan was always the “hardest” on in those remotes, Jordan Schlansky, you would see him break on occasion because even he knew that they were taking part in a bit. Man, I miss conan.

              • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                I go back and do a full-remotes rewatch at least once a year. They’re all fuckin gold. But my favorite is the one where he catches onto a secret email chain of employees so they can get to any free food before anyone else. That one is just so goddamn perfect

      • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’ll wait to hear about all the people crying from working on Conan.

        Because last I checked, Conan does seem to care about his staff. He has a history of paying people out of pocket while his shows were on hiatus.

      • QHC@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Almost like it’s a bit for entertainment! Being a “jackass” on camera is not at all the same thing as this story.

      • ImFresh3x@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I’ve never heard of anything saying Conan was inappropriate to them while working for him. He seems like one of those bosses that let’s people do there works and get a way with shit here and there.

        • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve loved Conan for decades, but a certain point the bits with him and Jordan Schlansky started to make me uncomfortable. Like yeah, he’s a weird, possibly neurodivergent guy who does odd things that are funny and Conan wanted to make a bit out of it and obviously Jordan was on board. But as it progressed Conan did seem to get a little mean at times, and when you have a national platform like that, you aren’t just being silly-mean to your quirky buddy, you’re opening the door to making it acceptable to ridicule people with autism spectrum disorder.

          • pwalshj@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            He’s not abusing an autist. Jordan plays in to it as much as Conan plays in to being mean. Listen to Jordan on Inside Conan. It’s entertainment. Jeremy Clarkson doesn’t try to fix everything with a hammer; Steve Martin and Martin Short aren’t in jealous competition with each other; Gordon Ramsey doesn’t SHUT IT DOWN!

            • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You can’t convince me Clarkson doesn’t at least try to fix everything with a hammer at first

            • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yeah… that’s exactly what I said. He’s ribbing his buddy. BUT every single thing he’s making fun of in Jordan could be seen as an autistic trait. When sweet old, aw shucks Conan O’Brien has a running gag where he makes fun of autistic traits, it harms people on the spectrum.