Jay Leno May Walk Out of NBC, Too

By Rob Shuter Posted Jan 13th 2010 07:05AM

EXCLUSIVE: First Conan O'Brien says goodbye to NBC, and now Jay Leno might have one foot out the door as well. Oh, what a mess! Word is Jay is furious with the Peacock network for 'Tonight'-gate (trademark!) and may soon walk. More Jay details after the jump, plus Ryan's teary-eyed Simon emotions and why Brangelina won't be at the Globes after the jump!

First Conan O'Brien Leaves, Now Jay Leno?

Sources close to former 'Tonight Show' host Jay Leno tell me he is furious with the way NBC has treated him and Conan O'Brien and is considering walking away from the entire mess with his head held high. "Now that Conan has made it clear he is leaving the troubled network, Jay is considering doing the same. They have put Jay in a terrible position. It looks like he is the reason that Conan is now without a job. Jay is a great guy and it's not fair that due to NBC's stupidity he looks like the bad guy," a TV insider tells me.

"Plus, what happens when Jay does return to the 11:35 slot if his audience doesn't immediately follow? How can he possibly trust the same network that canceled Conan after only seven months?"

Check out the morals on Jay! Good for him for sticking up for the guy he essentially got shoved out. And remember, if this mess continues and Jerry Seinfeld winds up on NBC, you heard it here first.

Ryan in Tears Over Split From Simon

Just before Simon Cowell announced he was quitting 'Idol,' he called the one person in the world that he just can't quit. No, not Paula Abdul -- Simon called Ryan Seacrest. "It was a very emotional conversation with lots of tears and laughter." Stop the presses! Simon cries? "Yes he does." a source tells me. And despite the fact that Simon swears Ryan was "popping Champagne bottles" to celebrate his departure (via Extra), I'm hearing otherwise.

When I met Ryan a few years ago, he told me how much Simon meant to him and I would often see them out together. "Ryan is devastated by the news. Taking it much harder than anyone else. It's not just that he will no longer be working with his best friend, he also knows 'Idol' is the center of what has made him so successful. Without 'Idol,' Ryan wouldn't have E!, wouldn't have his current radio gig and wouldn't have made it onto People's 'Most Sexy' list," which apparently is a big deal to little Ryan.

But fear not, Seacrest! Look at how well Jessica is doing without Nick. Oh, wait a minute.

And not to play "I told you so," (I'm too classy!) but remember last week when I said Simon was on his way out and 'Idol' would be minimizing his role this year? Well ...

Angie Ditches the Globes Without Telling Brad!

Everyone was surprised yesterday when Angelina Jolie's stylist announced the couple wouldn't be attending Sunday's Golden Globe Awards in Hollywood, but no one was more surprised than Brad himself. "He thought he was going to support his nominated film 'Inglourious Basterds.' He's very close friends with director Quentin Tarantino and very proud of his work in this film," an astonished friend revealed to me.

Put away the tux, Brad -- Angie has spoken and you will be watching it on the TV like the rest of us.

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Tags: jay leno, jay leno show

Comments

(130)

Wednesday 13 January

By Gene

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I don't see what the problem is let one go and have them go to another network at the same time slot. Let them battle it out for ratings. Then you will see who the most popular one is.
This is fair. As it seems although O'Brian is being forced into
pushing Jay out of the picture let him have the 11:30 slot.
Then let Jay go to a different network same time slot and you
will see who is more popular.Don't forget even the network said
Jay had higher ratings then O'Brian.

Friday 22 January

By Ruth

Send Jay Leno to CBS and get rid of that THUG letterman. He's a loser anyway. Anybody could be an improvement over him.

By Dad

Carole131 Well said. It's the Station that's wrong.

They should both leave. That Station is going down. Least wise I hope so for the way they treated both men

By Daisey

Jay, Conan, take the money and run!!
I'd like to see Jay do a 'Jay Leno's Garage' series, maybe once a week prime time...

By Dave

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Now that is TV worth wasting a little time on :-)

By jnzcram

Late night TV is a dying industry and everyone knows it so who really cares what these overpaid stuffed shirts end up doing anyway.

By What?!

Conan and Jay Leno walking out will be a thing of the past. Everybody move on. I think the NBC were not fair to them, but when this news died out, all would be forgotten. And the NBC will prevail anyway.

By dave bunker

NBC = No Brain Cells!

By Sarge27

Lets be honest everyone. Conan O'Brien was terrible and was going to get axed no matter what they wanted to do with Jay....

By Vegasdude

I say STICK IT TO NBC.... Jay and Conan... Walk away from those idiots.... Love the idea Of a "Jay Leno's Garage" Show... That would be Gold...... Love Jay and his cars...

By claude

who cares about american idiot oh excuse me american idol its over rated nothing but a bunch of bad singers no talent bums .the only talent that came from there was carrie underwood but i also think shes gone hollywood and for got her roots

By k

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Poor survey slant. No I won't watch without Simon, but I never watched with him there.

By Dianne

DITTO. Well said, they need a 3rd choice C. Never watched the show anyway.....BORING!!!!!!!!

By bob

jay retired then came back thats not retirement he should have stayed retired.he does not need the money he needs to drift off..

By jrkaosvenom

Jay and conan should go to a rival network and work on a show together. That would be cool.

By Donna

Dont blame either one for leaving NBC. NBC was so stupid to do the change in the first place. I hope they both either just quit or move to another network.

By RogR1667

Seriously?? This is big news?? Will Jay or Conan starve or something? All the things that are going on in the world and this is what is being (OVERLY) reported on? People are acting as though it's a major global event and problem. WHO CARES???

By califbus

I like what "Gene" said - "Let them go to seperate networks, and see who draws the biggest audience! "Jay is the funniest and best".

By Paul

Simple solution: Have Jay and Conan alternate nights at the traditional 11:30 time slot. Jay M-W-F, Conan T-T, then alternate the next week. That way they have an extra night to prepare material, and the viewers are less likely to suffer reruns. They would all have to split the revenues but there's a lot of money there. The two of them sure would shut up smarmy Letterman.

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