Jimmy Fallon Accused of Drinking at Work, Berating Employees and Overseeing Toxic Work Environment in Stunning ‘Tonight Show’ Exposé

Jimmy Fallon has been accused of presiding over a toxic work environment at The Tonight Show. Multiple current and former staffers spoke with Rolling Stone in an explosive report that alleges Fallon has shown up drunk at work, berated staffers and behaved erratically.

Fallon, who has led the show since 2014 and previously hosted Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, has become famous for his affable onscreen personality, but employees told Rolling Stone the comedian is much different behind the scenes. Anonymous Tonight Show employees told the magazine that Fallon’s ever-changing moods could ruin everyone’s day.

“It was like, if Jimmy is in a bad mood, everyone’s day is fucked,” a former employee said. “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.”

Some even alleged that Fallon could be unpleasant if he seemed to have drank that night before; eight former employees told Rolling Stone that “Fallon’s behavior seemed to be dependent on if he appeared to be hungover from the night before.”  

Four employees alleged to Rolling Stone that Fallon seemed to imbibe during work hours. Two employees told the outlet Fallon was “seemingly inebriated” during work in 2017, while two additional employees said in 2019 and 2020 that they “smelled alcohol on Fallon’s breath when they entered an elevator with him during the workday.”

In one alleged incident detailed in Rolling Stone‘s report, Fallon “couldn’t remember” he had just crossed out jokes on a piece of paper he had been holding.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God, he [seems] drunk. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. This could be awful — this could be the end of the show right here,’” an employee claimed.

A former Tonight Show staffer told the outlet, “Sometimes we would get nice Jimmy, but that sometimes was not a lot. It was just really, really sad to me that this really talented man created such a horrible environment for the people there.”  

Fallon was also accused of giving harsh feedback to his employees, including “passive-aggressive” notes with comments like “Are you OK? Seriously, do you need help?” and “Ugh, lame. What is going on with you? You’ve outdone yourself.”

But he wasn’t the only one allegedly mistreating employees. Rolling Stone reports that senior leadership on The Tonight Show — which has seen nine showrunners in nine years — only enabled Fallon’s behavior.

“Nobody told Jimmy, ‘No.’ Everybody walked on eggshells, especially showrunners,” a former employee said. “You never knew which Jimmy we were going to get and when he was going to throw a hissy fit. Look how many showrunners went so quickly. We know they didn’t last long.”

Former employees alleged the environment was so toxic on The Tonight Show that staffer would often joke about “wanting to kill themselves,”and would use guests’ dressing rooms “crying rooms.”

“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 told Rolling Stone. “I knew deep down I would never actually do it, but in my head, I’m like, ‘Why do I think about this all the time?’”

Decider has reached out to NBC reps for comment, but did not hear back by time of publication.

An NBC spokesperson told Rolling Stone, “We are incredibly proud of The Tonight Show, and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority. As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate.”

They continued, “As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behavior inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly.”

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has been renewed by NBC through 2026. The show is currently on hiatus amid the WGA and SAFG-AFTRA strikes.

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