Last week, it was reported that NBC drastically cut the budget of The Tonight Show, from $2.3 million/per episode to a figure closer to $1.7 million, leading to the terminations of approximately 20 staffers and a hefty pay cut for Good Guy Leno Jay Leno. OR THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT US TO THINK. Danger called BS on Leno not reducing his salary even further, and despite being a fellow NBC employee, America’s Got Talent host Howard Stern agreed, albeit in a much louder, paranoid, and profane way. He first said on his radio show:
“It’s all horsesh*t,” said Stern. “It’s bullsh*t. It’s a smokescreen…Here’s what it really means, and you can take this to the bank: Jay Leno is a scumbag. That’s what that means. He’s a spineless maggot. Jay wanted to cut staff. He’s embarrassed to do it. He didn’t want to come off as a bad guy. NBC took the hit for him, because they’re a corporation…My bullsh*t meter is going off all over the place.” (Via)
A few days later, a caller asked Stern whether he’d heard from NBC executives about his comments. Stern responded OF COURSE…and then went on to say more not-so-nice things about Leno.
A few notable quotes:
1. “F*ck Jay. Take my job away from me. Who cares?”
2. “Jay Leno’s the biggest wuss on the planet. He’s a backstabbing cumbag that I don’t give a sh*t about.”
3. “I’d rather leave [the job] than not talk about Jay Leno.”
Stern doesn’t make it easy to like him (his “I can call you out, but you can’t call me out” belief is just as obnoxious as Leno’s “I don’t want this news about me cutting my salary to get out, but if you need to leak it, I wouldn’t say no…” personality), but I think we can all agree that he’s spot-on about Leno here. We also would have accepted pulsating whitehead full of blood, pus, and cowardice. It’s like Mean Mad Libs!
