Former Tonight Show host Jay Leno has opened up about Jimmy Kimmel following his “indefinite” suspension from ABC. despite the pair having a contentious history.
Speaking to journalists at Chris Wallace’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday (September 18), Leno was asked about ABC pulling Kimmel off the air after threats from Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr related to comments Kimmel made about the Charlie Kirk shooting on Monday’s (September 14) show.
“I’m on Jimmy Kimmel’s side on that one,” Leno told reporters. “I’m a huge proponent of free speech. Please. I’m on Jimmy Kimmel’s side.”
He added, “You don’t get canceled saying popular things. Usually, it’s the truth that winds up getting canceled, so we’ll see what happens.”
Leno said that “Jimmy will land on his feet,” adding, “He’s a talented guy. He’s funny. And we’ll see what happens.”
“It’s a comedian talking. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it… Let the people decide,” he continued. “If people like a show, it stays on the air. I mean, that’s as simple as that. I enjoy Jimmy. I like all the guys. I think they’re really talented. I like jokes. That’s why I watch them.”
Leno’s comments come after a tense history with Kimmel. In 2010, Kimmel appeared on The Tonight Show and “humiliated” Leno when he brought up the drama surrounding Conan O’Brien. In 2009, O’Brien took over as host of The Tonight Show, only to leave the following year after NBC pushed his show back in place of a new Leno late-night show.
During his Tonight Show appearance, Leno asked Kimmel about his best prank, to which he replied, “I told a guy that five years from now I’m going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly.”
Speaking on In Depth with Graham Bensinger earlier this year, Leno brought up Kimmel’s 2010 Tonight Show appearance, saying, per Daily Beast, that it was a mistake to let Kimmel “humiliate me on my own show.”
“I trusted somebody,” he added. “It started a whole thing that continues to this day really. He’s a comic. You do what you got to do. Okay. I mean, I wouldn’t have done it, but that’s okay. It is what it is.”