Categories: LocalTelevision

Jay Leno Talks To Oprah, Says Conan O’Brien’s Jokes Didn’t Hurt Feelings

Oprah Winfrey sat down with Jay Leno, in an interview which is set to air tomorrow afternoon. It looks like Oprah isn’t holding back on Jay, and is going to be asking some questions about the Conan O’Brien situation that everyone wants answered.

One of the questions that Oprah had for Leno was, “When they asked you to go back, did you ever think ‘I’m taking away Conan’s dream?'” She also asked, “Did you ever ask yourself ‘Well am I being selfish?'” She tells Jay that “America has taken sides. And there are a lot of people not on your side.”

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Winfrey Have you talked to Conan in person?
Leno I haven’t talked to him through all this. No. I haven’t.
Winfrey Did you want to pick up the phone?
Leno Yeah, but it didn’t seem appropriate.
Winfrey Why?
Leno I don’t know. I think it — let things cool down and maybe we’ll talk, you know.
Winfrey Were any of the things that he said about you hurtful?
Leno No. They were jokes. And that’s okay. I mean –
Winfrey So jokes don’t hurt you.
Leno It’s what we do, you know? You can’t — it’s like being a fighter and say when you got punched in the head, did it hurt? Well, yeah. But you’re a fighter. That’s what you do.

Whos side are you on? Conan O’Brien’s or Jay Leno’s? Discuss below in the comments, or here on my.reviewstl.com.

Kevin Brackett

Kevin Brackett is a professional film and theatre critic. He is also a member of the St. Louis Film Critics Association (SLFCA). Since founding Review St. Louis in 2008, he remains editor and operator of the online publication. Kevin is also a co-host of the Reel Spoilers podcast, and former National Vice President of the Technology Student Association (TSA), comprised of over 200,000 members worldwide. E-mail: kevin [at] reviewstl.com.

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View Comments

Justa Notherguy says:

January 28, 2010 at 1:22 am

Unfortunately for Mr. Leno and his bosses at NBC, this story just won't go away. And their endless explanations don't seem to help much, either.

For any readers too young to recall - or maybe just not interested in late night TV, at the time - it might help your perspective on the current Leno vs O'Brien mess to read some background on the original Leno vs Letterman feud. Here's the full story of how Jay Leno took over the 'The Tonight Show' hosting gig from long-time host Johnny Carson, way back in 1993.
.
http://bit.ly/6FjAQq (complete article - NY Times; 1994)