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Conan Breaks His Silence About Leno

Conan O'BrienIn an interview with 60 Minutes‘ Steve Kroft, Conan O’Brien speaks candidly about Jay Leno, The Tonight Show and more — but yeah, mostly Jay.

“He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know — I know me, I wouldn’t have done that,” O’Brien says about Leno returning to his Tonight post in O’Brien’s absence.

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He continued: “If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well — and then … six months later. But that’s me, you know. Everyone’s got their own, you know, way of doing things.”

A Tonight Show-debacle refresher: O’Brien and NBC went their separate ways in January, quite contentiously, and Leno returned to the job he’d handed over six months prior.

On his dealings with NBC at the time, Conan says, “I think this relationship is going be toxic and maybe we just need to go our separate ways. That’s really how it felt to me … and I started to feel that I’m not sure these people even really want me here … I can’t do it [anymore].”

O’Brien recently found a new home at TBS, where his next late-night iteration will debut in November. The 60 Minutes interview can be seen Sunday at 7/6c on CBS.

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