30 most shocking late night scandals

9. Johnny Carson has a public feud with Wayne Newton

While Carson’s disdain for Bob Hope might have been mostly a secret, his hatred for Wayne Newton was very public. The feud stems from an incident in 1980 when Carson was in the running to acquire the Aladdin Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Carson willingly backed out of the deal, allowing a group run by singer Wayne Newton to purchase the property instead.

In the news, the story was spun as Carson “losing” the deal when he chose to walk away. According to lawyer Henry Bushkin, Carson reacted to this by constantly making fun of Wayne Newton on the show. This would heavily anger Newton in return, who was very serious about his “masculine image”. The feud was public knowledge and managed to last for years.

Newton himself would accuse Carson of being a “mean-spirited human being” in subsequent interviews. The singer also claims that he put a stop to the jokes himself by personally confronting Carson. According to Newton, he barged straight into Carson’s office and demanded he stop telling jokes about Newton, otherwise there’d be a fight. Newton claims Carson never made any more jokes following this event.