Conan O’Brien broke down in tears yesterday while reading to his writing staff his 553-word statement that he no longer wants to host the “The Tonight Show” if it’s moved to midnight, an insider said.
With Conan out of the picture, Jay Leno will take back “The Tonight Show” by March 1, if not sooner, sources said.
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At the closed-door meeting, a teary-eyed O’Brien told his staff that, at midnight, ” ‘The Tonight Show’ isn’t ‘The ‘Tonight Show’ ” and that he’d refuse to be part of it.
But he was his sardonic self at the show’s LA taping last night, introducing himself as “soon to be available for children’s birthday parties,” and saying how it was “always my dream to host ‘The Tonight Show’ for seven months.”
The statement effectively ends Conan’s 16-year affiliation with NBC, several insiders speculated.
“There are people at NBC who are pissed off and will say, ‘Fine, if you want to be a s – – -head, just go away already,’ ” one agent said.