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Jimmy Kimmel sneaks in jab at Jay Leno while bidding ‘Conan’ farewell

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 6/25/21

Conan O'Brien wrapped a 10-season Conan run last night (June 24), and his fellow late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel began last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live by wishing him a farewell that included a coy barb thrown in Jay Leno's direction.

"I also want to congratulate Conan O'Brien on 28 years of very funny late-night television," Kimmel said one minute into his opening monologue. "Conan wrapped up his show on TBS tonight. ... And also, I want to say congratulations to Jay Leno on his new time slot at TBS."

Late-night hosts additionally supported O'Brien on Twitter:

Tonight, two men I respect tremendously close a chapter of their brilliant careers. Conan made doing his job the hard way look easy. He & Andy are among the funniest of the many funny people I’ve met. Congratulations to you & your co-workers on a remarkable achievement.
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) June 24, 2021

Congratulations @ConanOBrien. One of the funniest brains in comedy. Without you, I wouldn’t have a job. Thank you for everything. I’ve always said - you can’t spell HBO without at least one of the letters from CONAN. pic.twitter.com/dVSPHfTEuw
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) June 25, 2021

Conan, thank you for 28 wonderful years of late night shows. Now, can I claim the title of “palest host?” pic.twitter.com/GIeJfdqroc
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) June 25, 2021

Kimmel's joke was in reference to the infamous drama between Leno and O'Brien over The Tonight Show before O'Brien started Conan at TBS.

All the way back in 2004, NBC announced its plan for O'Brien to replace Leno as host of The Tonight Show as soon as Leno's contract expired in 2009. Leno began his Tonight Show tenure in 1992, and O'Brien hosted Late Night with Conan O'Brien from 1993 to 2009.

Once '09 rolled around, NBC overpromised. O'Brien's Tonight Show tenure lasted only 145 episodes from June 2009 to January 2010. During that time, Leno still had a show on the network, The Jay Leno Show, but the competing time slots—Leno at primetime only to be moved back to 11:35 p.m. EST, which meant Conan's Tonight Show didn't start until 12:05 a.m. EST—ended in disaster for NBC.

Leno reclaimed The Tonight Show in March 2010, and Jimmy Fallon replaced him in February 2014. (Fallon recently received a five-year renewal.)

Conan premiered on TBS in November 2010.

While the 58-year-old four-time Emmy-winning host has closed a storied late-night chapter, he is by no means retiring. O'Brien will soon debut an HBO Max weekly variety show, produced by his Team Coco umbrella.