David Letterman's "Tribute" To Jay Leno Turned Into A Nightmare The Audience Loved After He Brought

Posted by Elina Uphoff on Saturday, April 27, 2024

Highlights

  • David Letterman defended Conan O'Brien from Jay Leno's actions, calling out Leno's habits in a joking monologue that won audience cheers.
  • Howard Stern warned Conan in 2006 that Leno wouldn't let him host 'The Tonight Show,' a prediction that came true in the finish.
  • After NBC made up our minds to replace Conan O'Brien with Jay Leno as host of 'The Tonight Show,' O'Brien walked away with a huge agreement and landed a show with TBS.

David Letterman has been a fixture on late night tv for decades. Over the years, he constructed a profession on his trademark humor, wit, and interviewing style. Letterman has also won a lot of consideration over the years for his competition with fellow overdue evening host Jay Leno.

While Letterman has selected no longer to hold a grudge in opposition to Leno in their very own struggle, he had no problem defending Conan O'Brien in his battle with the former Tonight Show host.

When O'Brien was once brought in to replace Leno as host of the in style late night show, it used to be short-lived. Leno in the end took the gig again and O'Brien used to be out. During considered one of his monologs, Letterman defended O'Brien, leading to cheers from his audience.

David Letterman Poked At Jay In His Monologue When Conan's 'Tonight Show' Gig Came To An End

On April 28, 2011, Letterman mentioned Leno's birthday all the way through his opening monologue.

"Happy Birthday to Jay Leno, 61 years old today," he began. "Happy Birthday Jay."

Letterman continued, "Jay, of course, one of the few tyrants still alive," which resulted in cheers and applause from the audience.

Letterman then made a joke which appeared to defend Leno's rumored nemesis, Conan O'Brien.

"All of his friends got together and had a party," he stated. "They had a cake and Jay cut the cake with the same knife he stuck on Conan's back."

Letterman additionally commented on Leno's plea to the public now not to blame O'Brien for what was taking place.

"No one is blaming Conan," Letterman said.

Letterman additionally advised his audience that this incident sees Leno behaving exactly how he knew him to be. While speaking with Oprah Winfrey on Oprah's Next Chapter in 2013, Letterman addressed his personal feud with Leno.

"Jay and I were friends — we were always friends, before all of this happened," Letterman mentioned, referring to the second Leno took over Johnny Carson's spot.

Letterman also published that the ones concerned with The Tonight Show approached him to take over. Letterman asked them if Carson approved of the thought, however was once told Carson didn't know about their asking him. Letterman informed them that he would not take the job until Carson licensed.

According to Letterman, Leno used to be introduced as Carson's replacement shortly after that.

Letterman additionally advised Winfrey about the time he spent with Leno in the early years. He stated that each time a fellow comedian bombed, Leno would gather a team of comics to watch their performance and make a laugh of them. Letterman mentioned that this is able to make him uncomfortable.

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David Letterman Once Told Oprah That Jay Leno Is 'The Most Insecure Person I've Ever Known'

David Letterman and Jay Leno have a bumpy historical past filled with ups and downs.

"I’ve never met anyone quite like Jay. And I will say, and I’m happy to say, I think he’s the funniest guy I’ve ever known," Letterman said.

"Just flat out. If you go and see him do his nightclub act — just the funniest, the smartest, wonderful observationist and very appealing as a comic. Therefore, the fact that he is maybe the most insecure person I have ever known — I could never reconcile that."

Howard Stern Warned Conan In 2006 That Jay Leno Wouldn't Let Him Host 'The Tonight Show'

Talk of Conan O'Brien most likely website hosting The Tonight Show had been buzzing lengthy ahead of the comic took the activity. This is something Howard Stern used to be aware of when he seemed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 2006.

During his interview, Stern brought up the risk and warned O'Brien that it might not be such a good thought.

"I don't see this guy leaving and letting you walk in. I'm concerned about you," Stern told O'Brien about Leno.

Stern then joked that he noticed Leno as any person who "stares at the wall ... and waits to go to work. He doesn't do anything but work."

Stern has never hid the indisputable fact that he dislikes Leno. When he appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2009, he joked with Letterman about having to compete with O'Brien, referencing Letterman's rumored feud with Leno.

"This Conan O'Brien took over the Leno show. You heard about this?" Stern requested. "We got to beat this Conan. For God's sake, how are you feeling? Jay left late night television and now you've got this new guy to compete with?"

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Howard Stern Warned Conan O'Brien About His Deal With Jay Leno Falling Through Even Before Leno Refused To Leave

Howard Stern has made his distaste for Jay Leno widely recognized, but one touch upon "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" appeared to be prophetic.

In 2010, Stern continued to speak about Leno during an interview on The Early Show. In the aftermath of Leno's go back to The Tonight Show, Stern referred to as Leno "a thief."

"He lifts bits directly from my show," Stern said. "‘Jay-Walking’ was lifted from my radio show!"

Stern also referred to as Leno a "lapdog" for NBC and claimed he "sabotaged" O'Brien. Stern stated Leno "makes me want to vomit."

Conan Said He Believed NBC No Longer Wanted Him On The Network

After O'Brien was hired as the new host for The Tonight Show, NBC decided they wanted to transfer his time slot. Instead, they would give the authentic time slot back to its earlier host, Jay Leno. O'Brien determined to stroll away and won a $32 million settlement and a new show on TBS.

In 2010, O'Brien reflected on the ordeal with CBS News. NBC's choice brought them a lot of dangerous exposure and a great amount of public give a boost to for O'Brien adopted.

"That first day that I woke up and was no longer the host of The Tonight Show, I remember the first thought I had is 'I am not shaving.' And that was my small victory, you know. 'Ok, so I lost The Tonight Show but I'll show them, I'll stop shaving," O'Brien stated when the reporter requested about his beard.

"This year has been, is still incomprehensible to me. The amount of stuff that's happened in my life in the last year is…it's gonna take me a long time to process it," he added.

"It just felt like the tone went very quickly from, 'Take your time, we understand this is a tough decision,' to you know, 'Let's go,'" O'Brien stated. "And that probably helped me a little bit feel like, 'You know what? This environment doesn't feel right and I've been with these people a long time. And I don't like, I really don't like the way this is going.' And when it started to get toxic and I started to feel that I'm not sure these people even really want me here. Let's just…I can't do it."

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