Jimmy Fallon has apologized to his staff at The Tonight Show following a Rolling Stone report that accused the host and late-night talk show of creating a “toxic workplace.”
Fallon and showrunner Chris Miller held a Zoom meeting Thursday to address the report, and the host apologized for past behavior cited in the story.
Rolling Stone cited a number of current and former Tonight staffers who detailed incidents of Fallon berating employees on the venerable NBC late-night show and giving what one former staffer described as passive-aggressive feedback on their work.
“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad. Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends,” Fallon said during the meeting. “I feel so bad I can’t even tell you.” He also said he never intended to “create that type of atmosphere” on The Tonight Show.
“I want this show to be fun,” he said. “It should be inclusive for everybody.”
NBC declined comment. The Hollywood Reporter has also asked Fallon’s personal reps for comment.
Fallon took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in 2014 after five years as the host of NBC’s Late Night. The show has gone through a number of showrunners during his tenure, with no one (including a three-person team from 2016-18 and a two-person team from 2020 to early 2022) serving for longer than about two years.
Miller, who came to Tonight from The Drew Barrymore Show, took the reins in March 2022.
Like other late night shows, The Tonight Show has been airing reruns since the beginning of the Writers Guild of America strike in May. Fallon and fellow hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver recently launched a podcast on Spotify, with proceeds going to their out-of-work staff.
