Jay Leno made ‘mistake’ letting Jimmy Kimmel ‘humiliate’ him
Jay Leno opened up about how he feels concerning his infamous moment with host Jimmy Kimmel
Jay Leno appeared on an episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger, where he opened up about how he feels concerning his infamous moment with host Jimmy Kimmel.
The latter made an appearance on the former’s show where he called him out for going back on his promise to pass on his role as host on The Tonight Show to Conan O’Brien. After ratings declined, Leno moved back to his own show, but O’Brien refused to take on the open position for host.
When Leno asked Kimmel about one of the best pranks he has ever pulled, the latter said, "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."
"When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen. I didn't edit it," reflected Leno presently, "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've edited it out of the show."
When asked why he didn’t edit it out, he said, "Because it happened. It's real — it happened. It's my mistake. That's how you learn."
About whether he agrees with people who see it as good TV, Leno said, "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 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."
