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.
I think he’s said he never wanted the earlier time slot because the network would be too involved with the show.
“Tonight Show with Craig Ferguson” would just be like what Tonight Show has been for many decades with just the few flourishes here and there that the network would allow Ferguson to do.
With the 12:30 slot he could do whatever he wanted, the network didn’t care. Which is what made his show the best talk show of all time.