Jimmy Fallon Accused of Fostering Toxic Work Environment, Apologizes to Staff

Oops, Jimmy Fallon would like to say.

His major bad.

Earlier this week, a report in Rolling Stone quoted two current employees on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and 14 former employees.

They each opened up about their horrible experiences working for the program, pointing a finger at Fallon for creating what sounds like a truly awful professional environment.

“Everybody walked on eggshells, especially showrunners,” one of these staffers told the magazine.

“You never knew which Jimmy we were going to get and when he was going to throw a hissy fit. Look how many showrunners went so quickly. We know they didn’t last long.”

Fallon has long been considered one of the nicest people in Hollywood.

Then again, the same was previously said about Ellen DeGeneres — and a similar report emerged about her a couple years ago.

The anonymous current employees and former staffers claimed to Rolling Stone that The Tonight Show has been a toxic workplace behind the scenes for years, citing Fallon’s “erratic behavior” and even saying he appeared to be drunk on multiple occasions in 2019 and 2020.

One staffer even said he/she had suicidal thoughts as a result of his/her tenure on the program.

“It was like, if Jimmy is in a bad mood, everyone’s day is f–ked,” an employee added.

“People wouldn’t joke around in the office, and they wouldn’t stand around and talk to each other. It was very much like, focus on whatever it is that you have to do because Jimmy’s in a bad mood, and if he sees that, he might fly off.”

Late on Thursday, meanwhile, Fallon didn’t address these allegations directly.

However, two employees who were on a Zoom call with Fallon today told Variety that the host apologized for the report and many of the examples cited in it.

“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad. Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends,” Fallon said this meeting.

“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.”

Following Rolling Stone’s initial piece, NBC told People Magazine in a statement:

“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.”