US comedian Jimmy Fallon reportedly apologised to Tonight Show staffers in the aftermath of a Rolling Stone exposé that accused the host of being drunk, dismissive, mean and erratic to the point where some staffers considered suicide amid a toxic atmosphere.
Rolling Stone is reporting that Jimmy and his Tonight Show showrunner Chris Miller addressed show employees on Thursday evening in a Zoom call.
Two employees who were at the meeting told the publication that Jimmy apologised and said he never intended to “create that type of atmosphere for the show”.
“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” he apparently said, according to the employees. “Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you.”
The employees said that Jimmy’s apology “felt pretty earnest” and that he promised that Miller, who became the showrunner in March 2022, is “a great leader” and isn’t going anywhere.
“I want the show to be fun, [it] should be inclusive to everybody,” he reportedly said, according to the employees. “It should be the best show.”
Rolling Stone’s exposé painted a picture of a toxic workplace where guests’ dressing rooms doubled as crying rooms for staffers, many of whom were apparently left walking on eggshells to avoid attracting Jimmy’s ire.
Though Jimmy’s apology seems to acknowledge the accuracy of the Rolling Stone piece, Jerry Seinfeld said on Thursday that one of the items in the story ― an anecdote in which he reportedly made Jimmy apologise for berating a staffer in front of an audience ― was an “idiotic twisting of events”.