Rolling Stone is reporting that Fallon and showrunner Chris Miller addressed show employees Thursday evening in a Zoom call.
Two employees who were at the meeting told the publication that Fallon apologized and said he never intended to “create that type of atmosphere for the show.”
“It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad,” Fallon said, according to the employees. “Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends… I feel so bad I can’t even tell you.”
The employees said that Fallon’s apology “felt pretty earnest” and that he promised that Miller, who became the showrunner in March 2022, is “a great leader” and isn’t going anywhere.
“I want the show to be fun, [it] should be inclusive to everybody,” Fallon said, according to the employees. “It should be the best show.”
Rolling Stone’s exposé painted a picture of a toxic workplace where guests’ dressing rooms doubled as crying rooms for staffers, many of whom walked on eggshells to avoid attracting Fallon’s ire.
Though Fallon’s apology seems to acknowledge the accuracy of the Rolling Stone piece, Jerry Seinfeld said Thursday that one of the items in the story ― an anecdote in which he reportedly made Fallon apologize for berating a staffer in front of an audience ― was an “idiotic twisting of events.”