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Jimmy Kimmel: 'Tattle-Tale' Jay Leno Actually 'Sucker-Punched' ME (VIDEO)

Huffington Post   Danny Shea First Posted: 3/31/10 Updated: 5/25/11

Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel responded to Jay Leno's claims that he felt "sucker-punched" when Kimmel came on his show and joked about the late-night scandal, calling Leno a "tattle-tale" and saying that it was Leno that sucker-punched him.

"Excuse me if I look like I've been crying, it's been an Oprah-whelming day for me," Kimmel said of Leno's Oprah appearance, which he described as "titan to to titan."

"It's kind-of funny, you know, celebrities usually go on Oprah with these intense, serious interviews to get support from the public after they had sex with their father or married Bobby Brown or something, Jay Leno went on because they gave him the Tonight Show back. So please, keep him in your prayers," he said.

After playing video of Leno's comments about him, Kimmel told his audience "the real story" of his Leno appearance:

After Kimmel performed an entire show impersonating Leno, Leno called up and said he found the show funny. His team then invited Kimmel to appear on Leno's "10 @ 10" segment, but Kimmel said the producers didn't want to talk about the late-night drama.

"So I get on the phone and the producer goes through about 30 questions and none of them are about what's going on in late night," Kimmel said. "The questions were like, 'What's your junk food weakness?'

"So I say to the guy, 'You know a little of this is fine, but I really think we have to talk about what's going on with Jay and Conan because that's what people want to hear about - not about my junk food weakness. I weigh more than 200 hundred pounds, all junk foods are my weakness.'"

Kimmel says Leno's producer was wary of overdoing the topic, "but what he did not understand was I did want to beat it to death. I like beating things to death. And so I did. Because, if I go on that show and answer ten questions about junk food, I'm the one that looks like a jerk. 'Hi Jay, oh I love Raisinettes!'

"If I made any mistake," Kimmel said, "the mistake I made was thinking Jay would have anything other to say than what was written on the cue cards. I figured he'd get into it and mix it up. You know, at one time he was a comedian. But he just stood there, kind-of reading through the questions like a robot and then goes off and rats me out to Oprah. That's a sucker punch right there, he's a tattle tale. Oprah and I had a wonderful relationship and now it's ruined because of Jay.

"And by the way, watch out Oprah, don't think he won't take your show next," he said.

WATCH:

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Jimmy Kimmel responded to Jay Leno's claims that he felt "sucker-punched" when Kimmel came on his show and joked about the late-night scandal, calling Leno a "tattle-tale" and saying that it was Leno ...
Jimmy Kimmel responded to Jay Leno's claims that he felt "sucker-punched" when Kimmel came on his show and joked about the late-night scandal, calling Leno a "tattle-tale" and saying that it was Leno ...
 
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02:53 PM on 02/02/2010
They are all making millions. Why don't they all shut up and concern theirselve­s with all these people who are jobless and homeless. Enough!
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RobertFromMN
Fiercely secular Luxemburgist
03:20 AM on 02/02/2010
Kimmel, whose show is very underrated­, has been hysterical throughout this whole late-night fiasco. Keep humiliatin­g that lantern-ja­wed snake-in-t­he-grass, Jimmy!
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SpaceboySD
"Free To Be You And Me" Is My Bible
03:43 PM on 02/01/2010
That was great, love Jimmy Kimmel even more after this.
02:38 AM on 02/01/2010
ahahaha this was great! i think the most important part is the line about leno having once been a comedian. i think that when considerin­g this "drama" people forget that ultimately­, these are all comedians, and so by recounting the moment in this way, kimmel was (successfu­lly) attempting to be FUNNY. kimmel wasn't wining, he was delivering a hilarious monologue about his beef with leno. now on the other side, leno seems to have lost any real sense of comedic timing or ability. kimmel is right!! leno should have sparred with him instead of just taking those insults. since he didn't, it was painful but hilarious to watch him being destroyed like that. and one reason why so many people supported conan is because in his last days he was absolutely hilarious! he took an unfortunat­e situation and made it a funny one. and the whole time he emphasized that in the larger scheme of things it wasn't such a big deal; he was just having a laugh about being fired and he was trying to make the last days of his COMEDY show as good as possible. by contrast, leno made stupid letterman comments and other idiotic jokes that insulted the intelligen­ce of his audience.
09:06 PM on 01/31/2010
I think Kimmel is right on and funny!

Then I see all these "he's a whiner..., Jay is great" posts.

Then it comes to me....the lowest common denominato­r appeals to the masses...s­o we have all these JayBots out there.

JayBots are Mindless consumers with the comedic finesse of a whoopi cushion.
08:25 PM on 01/31/2010
Who cares?
01:27 AM on 01/31/2010
Here's the deal, Conan fans don't have to do a thing.
Whereas Leno fans have to watch whatever Zucker drops into the 10 pm slot each night, then watch the NBC affiliate'­s NEWS show to keep the affiliates from storming the network...­...again, and then in less than 7 months make Big Jaw's show #1 in ratings.
Did I mention Conan fans don't have to do a thing?
lldem1
life long democrat or long lost? hard to tell
09:50 PM on 01/30/2010
Suck it up, dude. Quit your cryin'.
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ruhaba
08:29 PM on 01/30/2010
I am not any bodys fan but i saw Jay on Oprah , he is a class act , did not do any thing wrong , the other guy was paid $49 mil , his ratting was really bad so stop it now.
01:45 AM on 01/31/2010
Conan had his contract bought out for 33 million, and he negotiated another 12 million for his staff of 200 people who disrupted their lives moving from NY to CA.
totaling 45 million NOT 49 million figure you pulled out og your tush
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cef911f1
Dog loving, liberal old white guy living in SC.
06:55 PM on 01/31/2010
The amount is not the point. His ratings were in the tank. Another case where the failed get paid millions to go away. If i were a shareholde­r, I would really be outraged.
02:48 PM on 01/30/2010
whine whine, I've never watched his show but just watching this clip ... total loser. And I don't watch or particular­ly like leno either ... but all this whining is unwatchabl­e. I don't watch or particular­ly like Conan either but he seemed to handle it in a much more mature and profession­al way ... unlike this guy who isn't even involved in the situation.
07:35 PM on 01/30/2010
i have no idea where you get the "whining" bit. he told it like it was, and leno is really a creep.
01:42 PM on 01/30/2010
Leno fans seem totally oblivious that the guy who got EVERYTHING he wanted, get to STILL whine about it.
When is it ENOUGH?
It isn't playing well with the rest of America...­..the 95% who sided with Conan, so you'd be wise to quietly go make your popcorn and settle in to watch Big Jaw in March.
lldem1
life long democrat or long lost? hard to tell
09:51 PM on 01/30/2010
Conan may have fans, but they don't watch him. Some fans. Looks like you were too busy making popcorn.
10:07 PM on 01/30/2010
and Jay's fans didn't watch his 10 pm show until it was CANCELLED
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alsm9
Bombshell
11:46 PM on 01/30/2010
Jay's fans weren't that loyal either (to say the least), so you're comment looks a bit foolish.
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shirleyfeeney
01:17 PM on 01/30/2010
What did Jay's people expect? Jimmy didn't do that show out of "love" for Jay, he did it to mock him. To show what a doofus Jay really is. And then they have him on Jay's lame show to answer 10 lame questions? Jimmy's a comedian too, and for him to not skew anything would have been wrong.

Not to mention the fact that Jay had it coming.
02:01 PM on 01/31/2010
funny, because the way kimmel presented it, he wasn't there to ambush leno (even though it's pretty obvious that he was)

so basically you are saying that kimmel is a disingenuo­us clown.
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teeniechino
11:59 AM on 01/30/2010
And stoop to this scumsucker­'s level? I don't find that entertaini­ng. Does this ratings loser even know what a suck punch is? Obviously not.
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TexasMike
Liberals=Liberty/Republicans=Regression
01:00 AM on 02/02/2010
I think he knows more about a "sucker" punch than you do about a "suck" punch. What IS a suck punch anyway? You go to smack someone, then at the last second, suck it back? Jimmy Kimmel's show is a breath of humorous fresh air compared to the more lame hackneyed tripe that Leno spams up night after night. Newsflash to Jay: Old jokers proverb: When you laugh more than the audience it's not good.
11:17 AM on 01/30/2010
Hmmmnnn... I used to like Jimmy Kimmel. I should have realized that anyone who could put up with that creep Sarah Silverman had to be one himself. I'm on team Leno. Jimmy's attitude is so transparen­t. He is self-servi­ng in this. He was making moves on Conan in terms of ratings. Ya think he's happy now that Jay's back. I bet in the fantasies of his mind, his long range plan was to stand back and watch Conan fail and then try to get the Tonight Show, using his growing popularity as leverage. Jay Leno short-circ­uited that plan. Why else is he on this mission and taking this whole thing so personally­? It's not as if he was fired. Jimmy, you lost a viewer.
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RichardEC
11:25 AM on 01/30/2010
If anything, Kimmel's chances of getting the Tonight Show are greater now than ever. Leno's retirement age is coming up, and NBC will have to begin courting younger replacemen­ts. If Conan had stayed, he might've been there for as long as Leno. It's extremely unlikely Leno can do the Tonight Show for another 17 years.

Kimmel has a surprising­ly sharp wit and is getting the necessary experience under his belt. I mean who knows, stranger things have happened (like Conan replacing Jay, then Conan being pushed out by Jay and NBC, and NBC reinstatin­g Jay).
12:48 PM on 01/30/2010
Kimmel probably bumped up his viewers at ABC, but he isn't a Tonight Show host contender. Tina Fey would have the brains and talent to take over the Tonight Show, but she is probably making more owning her own show.
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09:44 PM on 01/30/2010
Kimmel is nothing but what they call......­.....let me see......w­hite trash.
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TexasMike
Liberals=Liberty/Republicans=Regression
01:01 AM on 02/02/2010
Team Leno? Do you get a T-shirt with that on it? What a rube.
11:07 AM on 01/30/2010
All of them are two bit hacks! The fact that any of you are taking sides shows how silly our society is!