Joan Rivers Gives Jay Leno the Finger

Joan Rivers Gives Jay Leno the Finger (Mediaite)

When comedian Joan Rivers dropped a $100 bill on Jimmy Fallon’s desk Monday night — along with many other celebrities — it was 49 years to the day since she first appeared on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show in 1965. It also marked the end of her nearly 30-year long ban from the show after she left as Carson’s guest host in 1986 to host her own short-lived late night program on Fox.

The ban started under Carson, but it continued through Jay Leno’s entire stint as Tonight Show host, a fact that the 80-year-old Rivers has not forgotten. During an impromptu interview with Inside Edition after her flight back to Los Angeles from New York this week, Rivers let her feeling about Leno be known.