Jimmy Fallon Facing Toxic Workplace Allegations on ‘Tonight Show’

Jimmy Fallon is the latest television host to face toxic workplace allegations, with employees alleging that The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon star is “erratic” behind the scenes, creating a workplace so stressful and fear-filled that dressing rooms are commonly called “crying rooms” and employees have struggled with suicidal thoughts.

In a new expose from Rolling Stone, staffers allege that Fallon regularly snaps at and belittles crew members over mall things. “It was like, if Jimmy is in a bad mood, everyone’s day is f-ked,” one former employee told the outlet. “People wouldn’t joke around in the office, and they wouldn’t stand around and talk to each other. It was very much like, focus on whatever it is that you have to do because Jimmy’s in a bad mood, and if he sees that, he might fly off.”

Employees accused Fallon of seeming inebriated at work and smelling of alcohol on several occasions between 2017 and 2020, with one anonymous staffer recalling an instance in 2017 in which Fallon crossed out jokes on a paper he was holding before getting confused. “He couldn’t remember he had just crossed it out himself,” the employee said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God, he [seems] drunk. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

Fallon has previously denied drinking on the job, but former employees told Rolling Stone they thought the comedian’s behavior was dependent on whether or not they thought he was hungover. “When something was wrong, we all knew how to behave afterward, which was just sort of avoid eye contact and don’t make another mistake,” one former staffer said. “It would happen over the smallest thing… We would have to shut the whole thing down, the sketch isn’t happening, and when things like that would happen, you would just beat yourself up.”

Employees also claimed Fallon’s feedback on their work was needlessly harsh, including notes on one person’s work that read, “Ugh, lame. What is going on with you?” The atmosphere behind the scenes was allegedly so toxic that employees said it caused them to go on anti-anxiety medication and/or seek out therapy, with three saying they experienced suicidal thoughts. “Mentally, I was in the lowest place of my life. I didn’t want to live anymore. I thought about taking my own life all the time,” one former employee said. Another added, “Writing for late night is a lot of people’s dream jobs, and they’re coming into this and it becomes a nightmare very quickly.”