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&34;I'm for free speech,&34; says the former &34;Tonight Show&34; host, who has a rocky history with Kimmel. Jay Leno reacts to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension years

"I'm for free speech," says the former "Tonight Show" host, who has a rocky history with Kimmel.

Jay Leno reacts to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension years after their tense late-night exchange

"I'm for free speech," says the former "Tonight Show" host, who has a rocky history with Kimmel.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

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September 19, 2025 3:16 p.m. ET

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Jay Leno in 2023; Jimmy Kimmel in 2025. Credit:

Monica Schipper/Getty; Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty

- Jay Leno reacted to Jimmy Kimmel's indefinite suspension from ABC.

- The former *Tonight Show* host said that "you don't get canceled saying popular things."

- Leno and Kimmel previously feuded after Conan O'Brien departed *The Tonight Show*.

Jay Leno has reacted to the drama surrounding Jimmy Kimmel this week.

The former *Tonight Show *host offered his two cents on the *Jimmy Kimmel Live* comedian's indefinite suspension from ABC, speaking highly of him despite their rocky history.

"I'm on Jimmy Kimmel's side on that one," Leno told reporters outside Chris Wallace's Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Thursday.

The comedian also said he could easily imagine a similar network suspension occurring during his tenure on *The Tonight Show*, which lasted from 1992 to 2009 (and again from 2010 to 2014), declaring,: "These kinds of things happen all the time."

Jay Leno at Pier 60 in New York City on Oct. 11, 2018.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Leno suggested that Kimmel's suspension — which began on Wednesday following pressure from FCC chair Brendan Carr and ABC affiliate groups who objected to the comedian's comments about conservative pundit Charlie Kirk's alleged killer, Tyler Robinson — indicates the late-night host's ability to speak truth to power.

"You don't get canceled saying popular things," Leno said. "Usually it's the truth that winds up getting [you] canceled, so we'll see what happens."

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Leno also argued that viewers, not the network or its affiliates, should determine the fate of comedians on TV. "It's a comedian talking. If you don't like it, don't watch it," he said. "That's the market. Let the people decide. If people like a show, it stays on the air. I mean, that's as simple as that."

Leno went on to praise the current crop of late-night comedians. "I enjoy Jimmy," he said. "I like all the guys. I think they're really talented. I like jokes. That's why I watch them."

The comedian also told reporters that he thinks Kimmel's troubles are merely temporary. "I think Jimmy will land on his feet," he said. "He's a talented guy. He's funny. And let's see what happens. Maybe he might be on [TV again] in just a couple of weeks again. So, we'll see."

Ultimately, Leno said, the issue comes down to First Amendment rights. "I'm for free speech. Patrick Henry said it best: Give me liberty or give me death. That was the first go-around with this argument. It's gone on for 200 years, and in a free society, it'll go on for another 200."

Leno added that he remains unconcerned about the future of comedy. "It'll be alright," he said. "Don't worry about it."

Jimmy Kimmel on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'.

Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty

Leno's support for Kimmel is noteworthy given the comedians' past feud, which began in 2010 after the *Jimmy Kimmel Live* host mocked Leno for taking back *The Tonight Show* after briefly ceding the reins to Conan O'Brien.

During an interview on *The Tonight Show*, Kimmel took a dig at Leno when he asked Kimmel to discuss the best prank he had ever pulled, prompting Kimmel to joke, "I told a guy that five years from now, I'm going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly."

The public relationship between the two comedians was not-so-nice from that moment forward, and Kimmel repeatedly dragged Leno over the years, at one point calling the prank incident "probably my proudest moment."

Kimmel later congratulated O'Brien on wrapping his TBS talk show, *Conan,* in 2021 and took a shot at Leno in the process. "Anyway, here's to Conan and Andy Richter and everybody involved with that show," Kimmel said in 2021. "We look forward to whatever you have planned next at HBO Max. And I also want to say congratulations to Jay Leno on his new time slot at TBS."

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Leno reflected on Kimmel's original *Tonight Show* jab earlier this year, taking some of the blame for letting his guard down. "When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen. I didn't edit it," Leno said on *In Depth With Graham Bensinger*. "It was my mistake. I trusted somebody. I went, 'Ah, I made a mistake. Okay, I should pay the price.' And it's fine, it's fine. I mean, we could've edited it out of the show."

In July, Leno asserted that late-night comedians have become too partisan. "I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture," Leno said in an interview with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. "Why shoot for just half an audience? Why not try to get the whole?"

He continued, "I like to bring people into the big picture. I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group. Or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support [on one side]. But just do what's funny."

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