(NBC via Getty Images)
Jay Leno slams Jimmy Kimmel in a new interview, saying Kimmel has a “mean streak” that turns viewers off.
In a chat with TV Insider, Leno is asked whether he watches the new lineup of late-night television. “I like Seth, I like Jimmy [Fallon]. I think Colbert will be really good. He’s really clever. I don’t know him well,” says the former “Tonight Show” host.
He goes on to note, “The most element you can have in doing a late night show is kindness. Because the show makes you arrogant. I think that’s Jimmy Kimmel’s problem. I think he’s a talented guy, I think he’s funny. But he has a mean streak, and it comes across.”
Referencing one of Kimmel’s most popular bits, Leno further tells the outlet, “He does this thing where he takes Halloween candy from kids and the kids cry. What am I missing here? It is funny I guess, but it’s mean-based. I think that’s why he’s not higher in the ratings.”
Elsewhere in the interview, which was timed to the announcement of Leno’s new CNBC series “Jay Leno’s Garage,” Leno is asked about not appearing on any of David Letterman’s final “Late Show” episodes. “When I did my last show, I asked Dave to send a 10-second tape. No, they didn’t want to do it. All right, so why would I go all the way to New York? It’s just quid pro quo,” he says.
Leno continues, “I went to New York and did the Oprah [Super Bowl] commercial for Dave. And that’s not anything against Dave, he’s just an odd duck. Kind of socially awkward, I don’t know. We go back a long time, we have a lot of history. Not bad history. We started out together, I think we both complemented each other when we started out. I didn’t know what Dave’s attitude would be, so we just didn’t do it.”
Kimmel is pictured above on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” in 2008. TELL US: What do you think of Leno’s take on Kimmel? And do you wish he and Letterman had appeared on each other’s shows?
