Here’s Why Jay Leno Never Had Joan Rivers on The Tonight Show

Here’s Why Jay Leno Never Had Joan Rivers on The Tonight Show (Mediaite)

It was a pretty big deal when Jimmy Fallon hosted Joan Rivers on The Tonight Show earlier this year. Rivers famously filled in as a guest host for Johnny Carson when he hosted the venerated late night show, and left when she got her own show on Fox. This caused a rift between Carson and Rivers, and she never appeared on The Tonight Show again.

But not only did Carson not feature her as a guest, Rivers never once appeared on the show in all the years Jay Leno hosted it. And in a new interview with Access Hollywood, Leno opened up about exactly why that happened. He explained, “I didn’t want to do it while Johnny was alive, out of respect for Johnny. I don’t think he wanted to see her on the show.”

After Carson died, however, Rivers frequently trashed Leno in public and things just became too awkward for him to try and get her on anyway.

Rivers, of course, tragically passed away earlier this year, and was honored by practically everyone in late night.