Leno on Oprah: I Haven't Talked to Conan
Oprah Winfrey sat with Jay Leno yesterday for his first post-Late Night Wars interview, which will air on her show tomorrow. And if the two just-released promotional clips are indicative of the whole, the interview is not to be missed.
First, there is the "trailer" (for want of a better term), in which Winfrey asks Leno some pretty tough questions related to his retaking of The Tonight Show from Conan O'Brien.
Some of Winfrey's questions for Leno:
- When they asked you to go back, did you ever think, "I'm taking away Conan's dream?"
- America has taken sides, and a lot of people are not on your side. Did you ever ask yourself, "Well, am I being selfish?"
- Do you think you could be Number One again?
For the record, Leno's only statement in the trailer is, "This whole thing was a huge mess." Um, duh.
Winfrey also released a short clip from the interview, in which she asks Leno if he'd spoken to O'Brien, and whether or not any of O'Brien's jokes at his expense were hurtful.
A transcript of the excerpt:
Winfrey: Have you talked to Conan in person?
Leno: I haven't talked to him through all this, no. I haven't.
Winfrey: Did you want to pick up the phone?
Leno: Yeah, but it didn't seem appropriate.
Winfrey: Why?
Leno: I don't know. I think it... let things cool down and maybe we'll talk, you know?
Winfrey: Were any of the things that he said about you hurtful?
Leno: No. They were jokes. And that's OK. I mean...
Winfrey: So jokes don't hurt you?
Leno: It's what we do, you know? You can't... it's like being a fighter and say[ing], when you got punched in the head, "Did it hurt?" Well, yeah. But you're a fighter. That's what you do.
This, ladies and gentlemen, will be good.
(Popcorn.GIF)
