Jimmy Kimmel on Jay Leno: ‘F— Him’
Recently it was announced that ABC would be moving ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ to 11:35pm in 2013 where he would compete directly with ‘The Tonight Show’ and Jay Leno. The competition hasn’t even started yet but Jimmy Kimmel already has some harsh words for the current king of late night.
Kimmel was on stage in New York City this week, taking part in an interview with New York Times TV correspondent Bill Carter. Accordign to Xfinity, the host asked Kimmel about going up against David Letterman, who Kimmel openly admires. After Kimmel spent some time gushing about Letterman, he was asked, “How about Jay Leno?”
Kimmel responded without a beat, “F— him.”
Leno and Kimmel were once thought to be friendly but Kimmel now says that was an act adding, “People, it turns out, really don’t like Jay Leno.”
Back in 2010, Leno invited Kimmel to be a guest on his 10pm ‘The Jay Leno Show’ shortly after it was announced that Leno would be returning to ‘The Tonight Show’ and, ultimately, getting Conan O’Brien fired. When Leno asked him (in true Leno fashion), “What was the best prank you ever pulled?” Kimmel responded:
I think the best prank I ever pulled was I told a guy that five years from now I’m going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him and then I took it back almost instantly!
Kimmel now says that night (which you can watch below) was the last time the two of them have spoken but that that night was probably his “proudest moment.”
What’s strange is that Kimmel and Leno don’t have any direct beef. Conan and Letterman hate Leno because he screwed them out of jobs. Howard Stern hates Leno (and also this week said “F— Jay!” on his Sirius radio show) because he stole his staff and jokes. But Kimmel and Leno have no past so it’s interesting to see such a one-sided feud developing.