The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon apologized to his team members on Thursday after 16 people accused him of maintaining a toxic work environment on the show’s set, according to an investigation by Rolling Stone magazine (New Window).
“I can’t tell you how bad I feel,” he reportedly told the show’s team during a video conference held on Zoom on Thursday night in the presence of the show’s producer, Chris Miller, according to Rolling Stone.
Earlier in the day, the magazine published an investigation by Krystie Lee Yandoli, which looked at the testimony of 16 people who had worked or still work for the Tonight Show.
The latter said they had felt humiliated and intimidated for years by their superiors, including Jimmy Fallon, whose behavior was described as erratic and the host was prone to outbursts of anger. The dressing rooms of The Tonight Show guest personalities have also been described by staff as wine rooms.
Several people tried to make their voices heard by filing complaints with human resources, but problems persisted.
A problematic relationship with alcohol?
There have been several rumors about Jimmy Fallon’s drinking in recent years, concerns he already brushed aside in a 2017 profile of the host published by The New York Times Night, he said.
However, two Tonight Show employees reportedly saw the host visibly drunk at work in 2017. Two others claimed they smelled alcohol on his breath in 2019 and 2020.
According to eight people who have worked with the host, his behavior could vary from one day to the next depending on whether he was hungover or not.
Nine producers in nine years
After the Rolling Stone investigation was published, Fallon reportedly told his staff, “It’s very embarrassing and I feel so bad. “I’m sorry if I’ve embarrassed you, your loved ones or your family.
However, some people still employed at The Tonight Show have defended the star host.
“He makes it a point to congratulate you when you do a good job and he’s happy,” one person, who wished to remain anonymous, told People magazine. I never felt depressed, no one yelled at me, none of that.
Since Jimmy Fallon took over as host of The Tonight Show after Jay Leno in 2014, the show has featured nine producers.
With information from the BBC and Rolling Stone