BRIEN’S CONTROVERSIAL walk out of the show resulted in ousting of 50 stagehands, who did not receive a severance package from NBC. Now, O’Brien is paying all of them out of the $45 million amount that he got in the separation deal.

 

O'Brien was paid $45 million exit deal as he paved way for Jay Leno to return to the show that he hosted for 17 years before O'Brien. Approximately $33 million of the exit deal has reached the hands of O'Brien, while the rest is going to severance for show staffers.

 

Beginning March 1, 2010, Jay Leno would move from his 10pm weeknight time slot to 11:35pm.

 

Reportedly O'Brien was given no advance notice of this change, and that NBC offered him two choices: an hour-long 12:05am time slot, or the option to leave the network. O’Brien chose the latter of course as on January 12 he issued a press release that stated he would not continue with Tonight if it moved to a 12:05am time slot.

 

He had said, "I believe that delaying The Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show."