Jimmy Fallon, the late-night talk show host, issued an apology to his Tonight Show staff on Thursday in response to a recent Rolling Stone report about allegations of a “toxic work environment.”
BREAKING: Jimmy Fallon apologized to The Tonight Show staff following an investigation by Rolling Stone into the workplace environment at the show.https://t.co/4veOM5tYWl
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) September 7, 2023
During a Zoom meeting with the Tonight Show employees, Fallon said, “It’s embarrassing, and I feel so bad. Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends. I feel so bad I can’t even tell you. I want this show to be fun, it should be inclusive for everybody, it should be funny, it should be the best show, the best people.”
According to the report, two current and 14 former employees asserted that the show’s working conditions have been characterized as “far outside the boundaries” of what people typically expect in high-pressure environments.
One former employee said, “It’s a bummer because it was my dream job. Writing for late night is a lot of people’s dream job, 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.”
Furthermore, undisclosed sources alleged that the toxic atmosphere behind the scenes stemmed from the top, with Fallon exhibiting frequently fluctuating behavior, leading to numerous shifts in the show’s leadership teams. These sources contended that they were subjected to “disparagement and coercion” by their superiors, including Fallon.
Workers asserted that on a specific day in 2017, Fallon appeared to be disoriented during rehearsal and was suspected of being intoxicated when he forgot to strike out jokes on a sheet of paper.
Despite several employees raising their concerns, issues reportedly persisted.
Numerous employees reported experiencing work-related “nightmares” and being in a perpetual “state of fear.”
One employee said, “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?’”
Nonetheless, as reported by the New York Post, the show’s dynamics have shifted in the past year and a half following the appointment of new showrunner Chris Miller.
A producer said, “There’s a new wave that came in a year and a half ago and has just made everything change.”
