If you’ve ever thought it must be fun to work behind the scenes on a TV talk show, chances are you’ve changed your mind in the past few years. Multiple shows and the famous hosts of those shows have been accused of a toxic work environment. Now, another show can be added to the list, “The Tonight Show,” but more specifically, it’s the show’s current host, Jimmy Fallon, who has been accused of making the workplace a place employees absolutely hate.
Multiple current and former employees at “The Tonight Show” spoke to Rolling Stone about their experience behind the scenes at the show. They explained that sometimes there were “bad Jimmy days” and other times there were “good Jimmy days” and you never knew which one it was going to be.
What exactly happens on “bad Jimmy days”? The employees claim that the work environment is far from just the normal hectic environment of a late night TV show. Instead, this environment is so toxic that employees claim it’s common to hear staff members joke about “wanting to kill themselves.”
One former employee explained, “It’s a bummer because it was my dream job.” The former employee added, “Writing for late night is a lot of people’s dream jobs, and they’re coming into this and it becomes a nightmare very quickly. It’s sad that it’s like that, especially knowing that it doesn’t have to be that way.”It’s a bummer because it was my dream job.”
Another former employee said, “Nobody told Jimmy, ‘No.’ Everybody walked on eggshells, especially showrunners.” The former employee pointed out, “Look how many showrunners went so quickly. We know they didn’t last long.”
“The Tonight Show” has gone through nine different showrunners since Fallon started hosting the show in 2014. That’s about one a year. The fact that the showrunners keep leaving shortly after landing the job could have something to do with the show’s work environment.
One former employee claimed to be having suicidal thoughts while working for “The Tonight Show,” and another former employee claimed to cry every night before falling asleep.
Another former employee explains in a little more detail what the work environment was like, saying, “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.”
Multiple employees claim Fallon has shown up to work drunk. Multiple employees also believe his behavior depends on whether or not he’s hungover.
Watch the video below for more details about the claims about a toxic work environment at “The Tonight Show.”
Do you believe the accusations about Fallon’s erratic behavior at “The Tonight Show” are true?