Leno refuses to take responsibility for O’Brien’s exit

Fans of O’Brien were infuriated at the reports of Leno’s insistence to dump the current host and in turn get back to his previous post. However, Jay Leno has claimed he has got nothing to with O’Brien’s departure.

Leno back on ‘The Tonight Show’?
Leno did not completely turn down the possibility of taking over ‘The Tonight Show’ again. “We might have an answer for you tomorrow,” Leno said on Monday.

But he assured that it was not him who got O’Brien to leave.

Leno, who started off with NBC’s infamous outlook in 2004, decided to pass on ‘The Tonight Show’ to O’Brien in 2009.

He revealed that he had twice asked NBC to let him off his contract; first when he was replaced by O’Brien in 2009, and another time when his primetime show was cancelled earlier this year.

According to Leno, NBC did not agree for the first time and instead offered him a primetime. Even though the talk show (timings were changed to 10 p.m.) "didn't seem like a good idea at the time," Leno accepted.

Later, he was shifted a half-an-hour of screen time at 11.35 p.m., assuring that O’Brien would shift past midnight.

"I have no animosity toward him," Leno said. "This is all business. If you don't get the ratings, they take you off the air."

O’Brien fans go anti-Leno
Leno sure has his point there but it was did not seem good to O’Brien’s supporters.

The talk show pro was unable to keep O’Brien fans from shouting anti-Leno slogans as they rallied support for O’Brien at the Lankershim Boulevard in front of Universal Studios.

Meanwhile, there were also some people who jumped forward to favor Leno.

“Jay doesn't have the power to make these decisions. The decisions are made by NBC,” said Tracie Fiss, a producer who has known and worked with Leno for 18 years. She was rather upset at the public's retort.

Producer Jack Coen echoed similar sentiments for Leno, saying, “The network asked him to make a compromise. He's being a good soldier, and he's being trashed.”

Though the recent turmoil regarding the late-night shuffle at NBC has helped the ratings a bit, the network hasn’t had it smooth for a while. The network has been struggling with low profits and ratings.

NBC CEO: took risks, didn’t work
Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC was recently declared unfit for the job. However, the CEO has his own explanations.

It is his job, he says, to take risks and try improving NBC’s ratings. "They don't all work out," he said. "Nothing tried, nothing gained."