Jimmy Fallon is living one of the low points of his professional career. "The Tonight Show" host apologized Thursday after being accused by 16 current and former employees of creating a "toxic work environment." After learning this, Fallon organized a Zoom with his team in which he apologized for his attitude, as Variety reported:
It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad. Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends. I feel so bad I can’t even tell you. I want this show to be fun, it should be inclusive for everybody, it should be funny, it should be the best show, the best people.
Fallon's 'outbursts'
The meeting came hours after two workers and 14 former employees accused the late night host of having continuous "outbursts" that complicated their work. This was reported by Rolling Stone, which included the testimonies of several people who worked under Fallon and who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal: "If Jimmy was in a bad mood, everyone's day went to hell," said one of the affected people.
One of them even went so far as to declare that "The Tonight Show" had gone from being his "dream job" to a "nightmare" not only for him, but also for several of his peers:
It’s a bummer because it was my dream job. Writing for late night is a lot of people’s dream jobs, and they’re coming into this and it becomes a nightmare very quickly. It’s sad that it’s like that, especially knowing that it doesn’t have to be that way.
Others soon began to pile on. Seven of the former employees who spoke to the magazine said they had mental health issues because of Fallon's attitude and that it was common to hear people joke about "wanting to kill themselves." In addition, they explained, they nicknamed the guests' dressing rooms as "crying rooms" because that was where they went to take refuge and decompress before the show would begin.
NBC defends Fallon
NBC defended both Jimmy Fallon and "The Tonight Show" by downplaying the alleged toxic work environment on the show and stating that "providing a respectful working environment is a top priority":
We are incredibly proud of "The Tonight Show," and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority. As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate. As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behavior inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly.
