late night wars

Jay Leno Might Finish Out His Contract After All

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - FEBRUARY 24: TV personality Jay Leno arrives at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Sunset Tower on February 24, 2013 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

In the ongoing saga of What Will Happen to Jay Leno, the latest chapter appears to be Not Much Right Now. Despite rumblings that NBC was looking to replace Leno with Jimmy Fallon, it now looks like that won’t happen until Leno’s contract is up — in September 2014. According to TMZ, Leno has a severe penalty clause in his contract that would require NBC to cough up a tremendous amount of money should they end his run early. So perhaps the late-night landscape will remain stable for a few months longer … at least until John Oliver subs in for Jon Stewart.

Jay Leno Might Finish Out His Contract After All