Summary
- Carson's ban on Rivers from The Tonight Show was continued by Leno due to her competition against Carson.
- Leno never discussed with Carson the idea of having Rivers on The Tonight Show out of respect for him.
- Rivers repeatedly tried to be a guest on Leno's version of The Tonight Show but he continued to refuse her appearances.
When Jay Leno took over The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson, he had a lot of pressure to deal with if he wanted to become one of the best talk show hosts. Fortunately for Leno, he rose to the occasion, which allowed him to become very wealthy even though he lived beneath his means.
On the other hand, Leno's years of success were a bad thing for Joan Rivers, since he would never let her appear on The Tonight Show. While Rivers has feuded with other stars like Jennifer Lawrence, fans still want to know why Leno would never let her on The Tonight Show.
This article will reveal why Jay Leno maintained that Joan Rivers was banned from The Tonight Show. Then, the article will look at what Rivers said about her attempts to get on The Tonight Show.
Jay Leno Never Let Joan Rivers On The Tonight Show Because Of Johnny Carson
After Joan Rivers spent years trying to build a career, she got Johnny Carson's stamp of approval during an appearance on The Tonight Show. That made Rivers a star virtually overnight, which eventually led to her getting the chance to host her own talk show in 1986.
When Carson learned that Rivers agreed to compete against him, he felt betrayed by all accounts. Carson wound up banning Rivers from The Tonight Show and the two former friends never spoke again.
When Carson retired from The Tonight Show, Jay Leno was chosen to take over hosting the show. If Rivers thought that change would mean she could return, that wasn't the case. Instead, Leno never allowed Rivers to appear on The Tonight Show during either of his hosting tenures.
In 2014, Time published an article looking at Leno's decision to never let Rivers appear on his version of The Tonight Show. For that piece, Time quoted what Leno told Access Hollywood in 2014.
Who has hosted The Tonight Show, according to Britannica?
| Host: | Tenure: |
|---|---|
| Steve Allen | 1954 - 1957 |
| Jack Paar | 1957 - 1962 |
| Johnny Carson | 1962 - 1992 |
| Jay Leno | 1992 - 2009 |
| Conan O'Brien | 2009 - 2010 |
| Jay Leno (again) | 2010 - 2014 |
| Jimmy Fallon | 2014 - Present |
According to Leno, he initially refused to have Rivers as a guest because he believed Carson would disapprove of her returning.
“I didn’t want to [have Rivers as a guest] while Johnny was alive out of respect for Johnny. I don’t think he wanted to see her on the show and that’s why we didn’t do it.”
It is interesting to note that Leno revealed that he never spoke to Carson about Rivers' Tonight Show ban. Instead, Leno assumed that Carson would be upset if he saw Rivers appear on The Tonight Show.
After Carson died, Leno still never allowed Rivers to appear on The Tonight Show when he was the host. While talking to Access Hollywood in 2014, Leno explained that after Carson's passing, he thought it would be too "awkward" to interview Rivers.
“It got a little awkward by that point too."
According to Leno, the reason why he thought interviewing Rivers would be awkward is she called him out a lot over the years. However, Leno told Access Hollywood that he believed he would wait for things to calm down and then potentially have Rivers on the show.
Leno went on to explain that things never worked out since Rivers always continued to hold a grudge against him.
"It got a little awkward by that point too. Joan was sort of going on and on about me and I thought, let’s let the ground lie fallow for a while and see what happens, but she always kind of kept it going!"
Leno went on to explain to Access Hollywood that he liked Rivers and had actually been a fan. "I like Joan — I mean, that was the first autograph I ever got, was Joan Rivers… I went to see her at the Chateau de Ville in Framingham, and we were friends."
However, despite how Leno says he felt about Rivers, he believed that there had been too much drama for him to interview her. "By then it just got to be awkward and then we never did it.”
On February 6th, 2014, Jay Leno gave up The Tonight Show's hosting duties for the second time. Jimmy Fallon's version of The Tonight Show premiered soon thereafter on February 17th, 2014. It took very little time for Joan Rivers to be welcomed back to The Tonight Show after that. Rivers appeared during Fallon's first episode and then was his guest on March 28th, 2014.
Joan Rivers Claimed She Repeatedly Tried To Be A Guest On The Tonight Show With Jay Leno
When Jay Leno spoke to Access Hollywood, he stated that he would have considered having Joan Rivers as a guest. However, based on what Rivers has said about Leno, it seems very likely that would have been news to her.
While talking to Variety in March 2014, Rivers explained that her long Tonight Show absence, ”wasn’t for lack of asking" to be on the show. After revealing she'd asked to be on Leno's versions of The Tonight Show, Rivers admitted she didn't know why he would never welcome her.
"I don’t know what his problem was. I don’t know, and you want to know something? I don’t care.”
After Jimmy Fallon eventually let Rivers be a guest on The Tonight Show again, she was interviewed during an appearance on HuffPo Live. During that 2014 conversation, Rivers didn't hold back while expressing her anger at Leno.
“Leno, pick a finger, never had me on the show.”
After making that statement, Rivers made her intent even more obvious by holding up a finger to the camera.
