16 current and former staffers on The Tonight Show have detailed the "toxic workplace" created by Jimmy Fallon behind the scenes at The Tonight Show. The allegations were published as part of a lengthy exposé in Rolling Stone. The Tonight Show is currently on hiatus with both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA on strike.
“Nobody told Jimmy, ‘No.’ Everybody walked on eggshells, especially showrunners,” a former employee told the magazine. “You never knew which Jimmy we were going to get and when he was going to throw a hissy fit. Look how many showrunners went so quickly. We know they didn’t last long.” Another former staffer recalled a moment from 2017. “He couldn’t remember he had just crossed it [a joke] out himself,” the employee says. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, he [seems] drunk. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. This could be awful — this could be the end of the show right here.’”
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Jimmy Fallon Created Unbearable Atmosphere
"Seven former employees say their mental health was impacted by their alleged experiences working at The Tonight Show. These staffers say it was commonplace to hear people joking about “wanting to kill themselves,” and that they would refer to guests’ dressing rooms in the office as “crying rooms” because that’s where they would go to let out their emotions when they were upset with their alleged mistreatment," the article also notes. “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,” one former employee says. “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?’”
NBC released a generic statement supporting the show but omitting any mention of Fallon himself. Meanwhile, Fallon and his representatives did not respond to Rolling Stone's request for comment. However, a source at The Tonight Show spoke to Page Six. While they did not deny the allegations, they claimed things had improved under showrunner Chris Miller, who took over the role in May 2022.
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