2023-09-13 04:55:02
– Why doesn’t the controversy over Jimmy Fallon stop?
He was a bad boss and wants to do better. New accusers are looking for more material for blame on social media. But there are other voices too.
Published today at 6:55 am
Toxic work environment and an atmosphere of fear: Jimmy Fallon has apologized after the allegations.
Photo: Evan Agostini (Keystone)
Jimmy Fallon has apologized – and yet the discussion continues, article after article appears. The host of the longest-running late-night show in the world, the American “Tonight Show,” was pilloried by “Rolling Stone” magazine a week ago: Numerous – anonymous – voices reported a toxic working environment, from Fallon (possibly alcohol-induced) unpredictability, his tendency to have temper tantrums and a general atmosphere of fear. And the squad would have reinforced this atmosphere.
Among the “Big Five” hosts who have set up a joint podcast in these days of the writers’ strike, 48-year-old Fallon, father of two primary school children, is certainly the one whose mostly harmless jokes tend to turn boring. In the studio, however, there was high tension, they said. There are “good Jimmy days” and “bad Jimmy days”. At the latter, the employees sometimes went to the guest dressing rooms to cry secretly because of the harsh humiliation; some even said their mental health had been affected by the job.
Jimmy Fallon is not the first show host to hear such accusations. Ellen deGeneres, James Corden and Lawrence O’Donnell had their major or minor scandals involving derogatory behavior towards subordinates. Fallon obviously understood the accusations and immediately apologized to his employees via Zoom call.
Things are far from over for the Internet.
“I’m very embarrassed and I feel really bad,” he is said to have said, according to consistent reports: so bad that he couldn’t even put it into words. He was sorry if he had exposed employees and created such a working atmosphere. “I want the show to be enjoyable, for it to be inclusive, for everyone.”
Words must be followed by actions, that much is clear. But it is also clear that this now has to happen on a personal level, at work, and is essentially no longer a public matter. Compensation or internal monitoring may also be necessary. But the matter is far from over for the Internet. People search intensively for further misdeeds.
Someone tweeted a passage from comedian Tina Fey’s 2014 memoir in which she tells how Fallon put her then up-and-coming colleague Amy Poehler in the loop. Fey then commented that the two are very good friends; in fact, Poehler later appeared on Fallon’s show as well. Author and comedian Jerry Seinfeld also defends himself against an anecdote according to which he felt very uncomfortable when Fallon cut down an employee in his presence. It’s completely twisted, they laughed together at a little mistake.
As the face of a show, you are under immense pressure and every now and then you lose track, says comedian Dave Hughes.
Even an Australian radio personality, comedian and TV host joins Jimmy Fallon. “I’m defending Fallon even though I’ve never met him,” says Dave Hughes bluntly. As the face of a show, you are under immense pressure and every now and then you lose track.
This pressure does not excuse any wrongdoing, and it is rewarded handsomely with attention, influence and, last but not least, a good salary – which apparently occasionally goes to the hosts’ heads. Nevertheless, it sheds more of a bad light on the psychology of the Internet and its outrage-driven algorithm than on Jimmy Fallon when new stories from long-ago times pop up again and again that ultimately have nothing behind them.
More about Jimmy FallonDear Alexandra works as a culture editor in the life department. She writes primarily about theater as well as social and educational issues. Studied German, English and philosophy in Konstanz, Oxford and Freiburg i Br.More information
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