Earlier last week, a pretty intense article from Rolling Stone came out about Jimmy Fallon and the kind of workplace environment he fosters (hint – it’s not a good one). If you didn’t feel like reading it but still want to know the bullet points of what he did and why he’s being compared to Ellen DeGeneres, keep reading.
Star of The Tonight Show and former cast member of Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Fallon is usually thought of as charismatic above all else. The Rolling Stone piece, which is titled “Chaos, Comedy, and ‘Crying Rooms,’” made it easy to think differently about the beloved talk show host. Here are some quotes from the article that I found to be particularly concerning about the Tonight Show environment:
- “The ugly environment behind the scenes starts at the top with Fallon’s erratic behavior, and has trickled down to its ever-changing leadership teams — nine showrunners in the past nine years — who seemingly don’t know how to say no to Jimmy.”
- “While many [current and former staffers] praised Fallon’s immense talent and comedic gifts, not a single one agreed to speak on the record or had positive things to say about working on The Tonight Show. Nor would any of the program’s nine showrunners since 2014 comment about the program’s namesake on the record – they wouldn’t even give statements of support, as is common in the entertainment industry.”
- “‘You never knew which Jimmy we were going to get and when he was going to throw a hissy fit.’” – comment from a former employee
- “…employees say they are in therapy because of their experiences…”
- “…witnessed Fallon snap at crew members, express irritation over the smallest of things, and berate and belittle staffers out of frustration.”
In addition to the comments made by anonymous employees (past and present), it seems important to also mention that the article opens with an employee’s recounting of a time that Fallon seemed to have shown up to work under the influence of alcohol. Back in 2016, there was a smear piece in The New York Post (https://pagesix.com/2016/10/25/nbc-fears-jimmy-fallons-boozing-is-out-of-control/) alleging that Fallon had a drinking problem, which he has since denied. This is a harsh accusation to make, but I understand why Rolling Stone felt it necessary to include in their article. Without personally knowing him, it feels unfair to add to the discourse, so all I’ll say is this — if Fallon does have a bad relationship with alcohol, then I hope this was the wake up call he needed to get help.
Now, I know celebrities tend to have a particular persona they choose to show their audiences, which means we really don’t know anything about these people (despite the parasocial relationships we form with them in our heads). And for some celebrities, we can see right through these personas. But unfortunately for me, Jimmy had me fooled. His goofy character and ability to bring out the silly side in his A-list celebrity guests made him fun to watch, and it also made him seem trustworthy. Shame on me for placing faith in a famous person (especially when that famous person is a man…).
Considering how the article sounded, it ultimately seems like Jimmy Fallon doesn’t really get told “no” as often as he probably should. Maybe he just needed somebody to hold him accountable – we all hope that people will act nicely without being asked, but we also all know that that is seldom how the world works. Now that he has been criticized, we can all only hope that his apology was authentic, and that his behavior changes. As the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, shows like The Tonight Show have taken a pause. And once Fallon returns to the screen (if he even does return), there will be a lot of work to be done in order to regain the trust of his audience. I don’t think he’s totally irredeemable, but trust is a quality that needs to be earned – especially for celebrities.