What did Jay Leno do to Conan? Jimmy Kimmel remarks revisited as former opens up on being ‘humiliated’ during the ‘Tonight Show’
American TV host, comedian, and writer Jay Leno appeared on the April 26, 2025, episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger and opened up about his 2010 feud with Jimmy Kimmel.
“When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen. I didn’t edit it. 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,” Leno stated.
In 2010, Jimmy Kimmel was a guest on Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show and made several jokes at the latter’s expense. For instance, when Leno asked Kimmel what his best prank was, Jimmy 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.”
It was a direct hit at Jay Leno, who hosted the flagship The Tonight Show on NBC at 11.30 pm for 17 years, from 1992 to May 2009, before handing it over to Conan O’Brien, who joined in June 2009, only to replace Conan six months later.
Conan previously hosted the Late Night Show at 12.30 am on the network for 16 years. However, he was moved to the 11.30 spot as the host of The Tonight Show as per NBC’s promise made five years prior.
Meanwhile, Leno was offered his own hour-long show, The Jay Leno Show, at 10 pm in September 2009. But when it did not become even half as popular as The Tonight Show, which also suffered a ratings decline, NBC suggested that Jay Leno return to the late-night schedule at his original 11.30 slot for a half-hour show before Conan O’Brien took over at midnight.
Conan, however, refused to back down and issued a public statement in January 2010. Eight episodes later, he was removed as the host of The Tonight Show, and Jay Leno was reinstated. Jimmy Kimmel’s dig at Jay later that year was a reference to this Leno-O’Brien drama.
More about Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien’s 2010 beef
On January 10, 2010, NBC announced it was moving Jay Leno's self-titled show from 10 pm to 11.30 pm, while Conan O’Brien would host The Tonight Show at midnight.
This change was not only due to both Conan and Jay’s shows taking a hit in their respective ratings, but also because it reportedly hurt the local affiliated news broadcasts at 11 PM. Two days later, O’Brien issued a lengthy public statement, claiming the network gave him a “take it or leave it” offer, with no advance notice.
“For 60 years, the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting,” Conan stated.
“The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move, I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.”
Conan O’Brien further clarified that he had “no other offer” in hand and had no idea what awaited him, and contrary to ongoing speculation, he was not going to “another network.”
The late-night show host expressed that he enjoyed hosting the flagship program for over six months, and it came as an “enormous personal disappointment” when NBC proposed the changes. He mentioned that he and his staff “worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show.”
However, Conan claimed he could not “participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.” Elsewhere, he also mentioned working “long and hard” to take over the reins of The Tonight Show and passing on “far more lucrative offers” to dedicate himself to finding ways to “extend the franchise long into the future.”
“Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more… My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work,” Conan shared.
However, when O’Brien returned to hosting The Tonight Show that night, he addressed his young audience and said they could do anything they wanted in life, just like him, “unless Jay Leno wants to do it too.” Conan also shared that hosting the program was his “lifelong dream” being fulfilled.
Conan O’Brien hosted eight more episodes of The Tonight Show, during which he took several shots at NBC. Later, on January 22, 2010, he stepped aside.
"Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen," Conan said in his farewell monologue.
Conan and his staff received a $45 million settlement package from NBC to exit the network, while O’Brien agreed to a seven-month ban from TV in a signed contract. Jay Leno took over from him five weeks later.
His eponymous show was canceled, and he returned as host of The Tonight Show, which ran for four more years before being taken up by Jimmy Fallon, who continues to this day.
Meanwhile, Conan O’Brien stayed at NBC until later that year when his non-compete clause ended, then began hosting his own self-titled late-night show on TBS in November 2010, which aired until June 2021. At the time of the Leno versus O’Brien beef, other former NBC hosts, including David Letterman and Howard Stern, also criticized the network and Jay, along with Jimmy Kimmel.
Looking back at his feud with Kimmel, which has since been resolved, Jay Leno shared during his latest appearance on In Depth With Graham Bensinger that he should have stopped Jimmy or at least edited out the portion where he mocked him.
However, he let it happen “because it happened,” referring to the fight over the Tonight Show hosting.
“It’s real — it happened. It’s my mistake. That’s how you learn. It’s not good TV for me because it started a whole thing that continues to this day, really. But it’s okay, it’s alright. He’s [Kimmel] 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,” Leno told Bensinger.
Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien never buried the hatchet. However, the former settled his differences with Kimmel and called him up when Jimmy’s son underwent heart surgery in 2017. Kimmel, too, for his part, stated that he “made peace” with Leno and accepted his gesture.
