Jimmy Fallon sidestepped the question!
In an interview on Thursday, October 12, The Tonight Show star spoke about the show’s return after the writers’ strike at the Broadway opening of Gutenberg! The Musical!
“I’m so happy to be back I can’t even tell you, I missed the show so much,” he told a news outlet, adding, “I miss interviewing everyone so much, I was just interviewing my wife for the last five months and she got bored of me so she’s so happy I’m out of the house.”
“The show is back, we’re back to telling monologue jokes, back to making people feel happy, I’m so thankful and happy to be back,” he continued.
The reporter then asked the comedian about the bombshell exposé which accused Fallon of creating a “toxic” work environment.
Instead of addressing the query, he replied “Yeah, I’m happy to be back,” before quickly walking away.
As OK! previously reported, in September, Rolling Stone released information from 16 of Fallon’s current and former employees about how working with the 49-year-old has been unpleasant.
The staffers claimed The Tonight Show has been a "toxic workplace for years — far outside the boundaries of what’s considered normal in the high-pressure world of late-night TV." Some alleged that the environment completely crushed their "dreams" of working for such an esteemed TV show.
They shared that the host’s "erratic behavior" and frequent "outbursts," made their day to day difficult also noting that the series had "ever-changing leadership teams" who "seemingly don’t know how to say no to Jimmy."
The report also revealed that the workplace was a "pretty glum atmosphere," where the staffers would be "belittled and intimidated by their bosses, including Fallon himself."
One employee said, "Writing for late night is a lot of people’s dream jobs, and they’re coming into this and it becomes a nightmare very quickly. It’s sad that it’s like that, especially knowing that it doesn’t have to be that way."
"Nobody told Jimmy, 'No.' Everybody walked on eggshells, especially showrunners. You never knew which Jimmy we were going to get and when he was going to throw a hissy fit. Look how many showrunners went so quickly. We know they didn’t last long," another individual added.
Three people divulged details of their mental health struggles while working on the The Tonight Show.
"Mentally, I was in the lowest place of my life. I didn’t want to live anymore. I thought about taking my own life all the time. I knew deep down I would never actually do it, but in my head, I’m like, 'Why do I think about this all the time?'" one person shared.
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After the scandal broke, NBC released a statement, which read: "We are incredibly proud of The Tonight Show, and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority. As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate. As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behavior inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly."
Page Six interviewed Fallon.
