Jay Leno Suffers ANOTHER Freak Accident
Former late-night host Jay Leno is in stable but unsightly condition after taking a fall down 60 feet of a hillside, leaving him with a broken wrist and a bruised and swollen face.
Speaking with Inside Edition, the 74-year-old comedian explained how his misfortune came to pass. “I broke my [right] wrist” and “lost the nail on my [middle] finger” while looking over a hill outside of Pittsburgh. “I said ‘The hill doesn’t look that steep, let me take a — ah!’” he said while recounting the scary moment. The fall occurred on Saturday night during a break in Leno’s tour near the hotel where he was staying.
The outlet reported that Leno was headed for a dinner reservation at one of his favorite local restaurants, but instead of walking a mile-and-a-half along the road, he decided to take a shortcut down the hill. A shot of its steep elevation illustrated the challenge that Leno attempted to brave. “I hit a bunch of rocks — it was 60 feet,” Leno laughed. He added that he went right into a show three hours later and didn’t even take a day off to nurse his injuries. By Monday night he was in Beverly Hills performing the next comedy show on his schedule.
Leno, who helmed “The Tonight Show” for 22 years while at NBC, has been beset by bad luck in recent years. In April a Los Angeles Superior Court granted Leno conservatorship over his wife, Mavis Leno, 77, whose health is failing fast. In January, Mavis was diagnosed with “advanced dementia,” according to PEOPLE Magazine. Ronald Ostrin, a court-appointed representative of Leno’s wife, said they were “in agreement” about the conservatorship and that Mavis is “receiving excellent care with her husband, Mr. Leno.”
The intent behind the conservatorship, Jay said at the time, is to help establish “managed assets” that could be carried on in the form of a foundation if he also passes away. “I think she’s in the least restrictive environment. I think she’s in very good care with Mr. Leno,” a judge stated at the proceeding before telling Jay Leno, “Everything you’re doing is right… I totally understand this is a difficult period.”
Before that, he was severely burned in November 2022 while trying to extinguish a fire inside his garage. “I went to the Grossman Burn Center and I got a new face,” he recalled on Tuesday, showing off the “brand new ear” he received while staying at the Los Angeles hospital. His treatment required a series of skin grafts as well as hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
The next stop on Leno’s tour will be in Hermosa Beach, California as part of his “Comedy for a Cause” show to raise money for the burn foundation that helped save his life. Asked if he’ll be able to see out of his bruised and battered left eye hidden beneath a patch, the comedian shrugged it off. “It’ll be fine, I’m not worried about it,” he said.
