The Tonight Show mess involving Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien is 15 years old at this point, but it seems to be one topic that just won't go away. Leno revisited the incident in a recent interview and agreed that an O'Brien zinger got under his skin.
NBC promised O'Brien The Tonight Show all the way back in 2001, but didn't let Leno in on the deal until 2004. Leno was given five years to finish out his Tonight Show run before O'Brien would get the gig.
All hell broke loose after that as NBC tried to have their cake and eat it too. O'Brien's iteration of The Tonight Show didn't immediately take off, and The Jay Leno Show just created more controversy. Eventually, O'Brien stepped down, Leno returned to The Tonight Show, and Jimmy Fallon became next in line.
Leno gave more of his side of the story during an interview with Graham Bensinger. The comedian pushed back against the narrative that he was the bad guy and "stole" The Tonight Show back from Conan.
Bensinger quoted O'Brien's final Tonight Show monologue in which Conan said "I just want to say to the kids out there watching, you can do anything you want in life. Unless Jay Leno wants to do it, too." The interview said the joke got under Leno's skin, which the comedian didn't deny.
Leno claimed NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker told him O'Brien wanted The Tonight Show and that Leno would have to leave after his five-year deal expired. According to Leno, Zucker said "we made a mistake" after O'Brien took over the show.
He continued, saying he went along with NBC's plan to do a half-hour show at 11:30 and bump Conan's Tonight Show to midnight. O'Brien refused to move and ultimately chose to walk away from the gig.
"And then, of course, Letterman, Kimmel, Stern, they have a feeling 'Leno screwed...,'" Leno said. But from his perspective, he only did what the network asked of him as they tried to salvage a disaster of their own making. Yet the public narrative made Leno out to be the bad guy.
Conan O'Brien's joke may have been the last straw for Jay Leno
With that in mind, it's understandable why O'Brien's joke would irk Leno. In his mind, it misrepresents the story and pushes a falsehood about the entire Tonight Show conflict.
According to the book The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter, the joke led Leno to call NBC chairman Jeff Gaspin. Leno reportedly asked "Why the f*** am I giving up a half hour for this guy?"
Clearly, each side thinks they were in the right. And as much as O'Brien and Letterman have said they've moved on, neither seems willing to let go of their version of the truth. But the reality is that the lion's share of the blame goes to NBC.