Jay Leno suffered many fractures after crashing his motorcycle.
For Jay Leno, this week has been a difficult one. Literally and metaphorically.
The late-night legend, 72, disclosed to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday that he is recovering once more following a motorbike accident on January 17 that broke several of his bones.
To make matters worse, shortly after that interview was published, The Hollywood Reporter reported that CNBC was canceling the comedian’s show, Jay Leno’s Garage, after seven seasons of airing in primetime as part of the network’s recent shift to investing more in business news and personal finance content. This marked the end of Leno’s three-decades-long relationship with NBC after he spent 22 years hosting the Tonight Show.
The comic, who is getting ready for a one-night appearance at the Wynn hotel in Las Vegas on March 31, explained that he “was knocked off” his vintage motorcycle (1940 Indian) after giving it a test drive and pulling over after smelling what he believed to be leaking gas.
“Unbeknownst to me, a man had a wire strung across the parking lot with no flag hanging from it, Leno told the newspaper. “I turned down a side street and cut through a parking lot. This means that I missed it when it was too late. I was clotheslined and then suddenly knocked off the bike.
He noted that up until this point, he had chosen to remain silent about the collision due to the media attention he had received following a previous burning accident in November, which had left him with severe burns to his upper body, including his face and neck. “The bike kept going,” he said.
He made a joke, “You know, after getting burned up, you get that one for free.” “After that, you crash airplanes like Harrison Ford. Keep your head down, please.”
Fortunately, the comic is recovering fully from both mishaps: “My collarbone is broken. My two ribs are broken. I have two broken kneecaps, “said him. But I’m fine!
He was hospitalized for second- and third-degree burns after a clogged fuel line shot gas in his face while he and his buddy Dave Killackey were in the undercarriage of a 1907 White Steam vehicle. The crash occurred over two months after that incident.
Leno was treated for severe burns to his face, neck, chest, hands, and left arm after the incident enveloped his upper body in a “wall of fire,” according to Killackey, who spoke with Hoda Kotb on Today.
The loss of Jay Leno’s Garage and Leno’s bike tragedy come simultaneously now.
His connection with NBC, which lasted more than 30 years and began in 1992 when he took over The Tonight Show from the late, great Johnny Carson, is finished as a result of the cancellation (after winning a highly publicized bidding war against David Letterman, who ultimately launched his competitor show on CBS, which ran for 23 seasons).
When Leno decided to give Conan O’Brien control of The Tonight Show in 2009, he regretted his choice, sparking another late-night conflict. NBC decided to keep Leno on the network in the 10 p.m. hour with The Jay Leno Show because of concern that he would switch to a rival network.
O’Brien’s Tonight Show was shifted to midnight because NBC moved Leno back to his regular 11:30 p.m. time slot after rating issues. O’Brien contested the ruling and ultimately prevailed, leaving NBC with a multimillion-dollar compensation.
Nevertheless, the uproar allowed Leno to return to The Tonight Show. He did so in 2014 and continued hosting it until Jimmy Fallon took over.
Leno’s decades-long career at NBC has ended, at least for the time being. He still presents the nationally broadcast game show You Bet Your Life for Fox.
