American late-night host Jimmy Fallon has apologised to his employees after several former staff members on The Tonight Show spoke to Rolling Stone about what they described as a "toxic workplace".
Fallon told a Zoom meeting with his employees that the allegations were "embarrassing".
"Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends. I feel so bad I can't even tell you," he said.
"I want this show to be fun, it should be inclusive for everybody, it should be funny, it should be the best show, the best people."
Sixteen current and former staffers told Rolling Stone that Fallon's erratic behaviour spoiled their "dream" of working in late-night television. They worked in a range of positions on the show, from production crew members to office staffers and in the writers' room.
Seven former employees said their mental health was impacted by their alleged experiences working at The Tonight Show.
Staff said it was common to hear people referring to guests' dressing rooms as "crying rooms", because that's where they would go to let out their emotions when they were upset with their alleged mistreatment.
"It's a bummer because it was my dream job," one former employee told Rolling Stone.
"Writing for late night is a lot of people's dream job, and they're coming into this and it becomes a nightmare very quickly. It's sad that it's like that, especially knowing that it doesn't have to be that way."
A spokesperson for NBC defended the program in a statement — but did not mention Fallon himself.
"We are incredibly proud of The Tonight Show, and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority," the spokesperson said.
"As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate.
"As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behaviour inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly."
SHARE ME