Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show is the latest in a string of talk shows to be hit with allegations of being a toxic workplace environment. The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and The View have also all been hit with similar accusations in recent years, illustrating the rise of a disturbing pattern. These allegations often include bullying, harassment, discrimination, and overall mistreatment of workers on set, with the main perpetrators usually being said to be the host or the higher-up executives. As described, the influence of these higher-ups then spreads to those below them and those replacing them, creating an endless cycle of toxicity that employees of various talk shows have begun coming forward about.
Now, the latest toxic workplace allegations are coming from The Tonight Show, the longest-running talk show in the world. Fallon got his start in the TV industry working as a cast member on SNL before moving into hosting with his tenure on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. After he left Late Night in 2014, he became the sixth host of The Tonight Show that same year. He is currently slated to remain as host of the popular talk show through 2026.
Over the years, he has proven to be a relatively successful (if arguably bland) host of The Tonight Show, earning high ratings and numerous accolades during his stint, with many viewers enjoying his light-hearted interviews and humor. However, his time on The Tonight Show hasn’t been without controversy. He received criticism for hosting Donald Trump on his show in 2017 and gained scrutiny in 2020 when a blackface skit he did for SNL resurfaced. Now, new allegations are detailing a toxic environment on The Tonight Show under Fallon that has gone on for years.
The Tonight Show employees allege toxic workplace
Rolling Stone reported on the allegations of sixteen employees (two current and 14 former) regarding the workplace environment on The Tonight Show. The report delves into many disturbing allegations about Fallon’s behavior on set and the bullying and harassment of staffers by executives on the show. Part of the frustration and stress of the environment may be due to the show’s unusually high turnover rate. The Tonight Show has had nine different showrunners and six different leadership teams over nine years, with some attributing the high turnover to Fallon’s erratic behavior. As a result, many employees alleged an ever-changing, chaotic, and stress-inducing environment. Anytime things started temporarily looking up, a leadership change would be made, and the bullying and mistreatment would begin again.
However, leadership wasn’t the only thing subject to change on set. Several employees alleged that Fallon’s ever-changing mood was responsible for much of the stress and chaos. Essentially, everything depended on Fallon’s mood, which employees reported was more often sour than good-natured. If Fallon was in a bad mood, the entire mood on set would be glum and subdued. Employees would be forced to walk on eggshells around him, fearful of setting him off by merely talking with one another or making the slightest mistake on set. A few employees also expressed concerns that Fallon may have been inebriated on set on several occasions and that his bad moods could correspond with days he was hungover.
The stress on set was so bad that many employees revealed that their mental health deteriorated because of their jobs, and they experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression. They even reportedly used dressing rooms as “crying rooms” to deal with stress. Bullying and demeaning also appeared to be common on set, with five employees accusing former showrunner Jamie Granet-Bederman of mistreatment, including making racist comments and commenting on how much staffers were eating. Fallon also allegedly partook in the bullying, leaving his writers and production staff demeaning notes like, “What’s wrong with you?” or “Ugh, lame.” Others also accused HR of failing to protect them and of reporting what should’ve been confidential concerns to managers. Some even alleged they faced termination and disciplinary action after going to HR with complaints.
The worrying trend of talk show workplace toxicity
The allegations above are eerily similar to those that arose on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Kelly Clarkson Show. In all of these cases, former and current employees reiterated how working in the talk show industry was their dream, only to have their dreams and love of the field utterly crushed by what allegedly went on behind the scenes on these shows. One possible reason this toxicity can thrive is because of the competitive nature of the field. An employee on The Tonight Show explained why many stayed quiet about the mistreatment, stating,
It just always felt like, ‘You should be grateful that you have a job, and you should be grateful that you have this position at this show, at this network. Everyone wants to be in this spot. You have worked hard to get here — it shouldn’t be a thing where you’re being ungrateful.’
Poor treatment of workers isn’t limited to the talk show industry but has been rapidly spreading through the TV and film industry as a whole. Sadly, concerns of employees are often dismissed, as in the case of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, when executives essentially tell whistleblowers that this is just the reality of the industry and they have to deal with it. There seems to be a pervading belief among studios that workers should merely be grateful for getting a foot in the door and shouldn’t be entitled to making a livable wage or being provided a safe workplace, making mistreatment and exploitation an industry standard.
Reform is needed throughout the industry, but the growing trend of toxicity behind the scenes on talk shows shows that reform is especially needed in this sector.
(featured image: NBC)
