The 2024 Paris Olympics have come and gone, but Colin Jost’s poor foot is still healing.
The “Weekend Update” co-anchor’s tenure as an NBC surfing correspondent in Tahiti was full of chaotic (and painful) moments, from Jost sporting open wounds as a result of stepping on coral reefs to him getting an inner ear infection on top of a staph infection.
“I’ve been visiting the medical tent regularly,” Jost said. “They started saying ‘We need to see you every day,’ which at first I was like, ‘Oh my god, guys, I like you too.’ And they were like, ‘No it’s because the infection hasn’t improved.’”
However, Jost isn’t the only late-night star to ever get hurt on the job. Over the years, hosts from Johnny Carson to Jon Stewart have earned all kinds of battle scars in the name of entertaining audiences. Some injuries have been relatively minor, while more serious incidents have resulted in hospital visits and even multimillion dollar lawsuits.
In honor of the Great Colin Jost Olympics Fiasco of 2024, here are seven other times late-night hosts got injured at work. Remember: Don’t try these at home!
Conan O’Brien’s Desperate Concussion
Conan O’Brien sure could have used Dr. Arroyo‘s help here. In 2009, the (short-term) Tonight Show host suffered a concussion after he slipped and hit his head during a sketch in which he raced against Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher. The injury was actually so serious that it briefly landed O’Brien in the hospital. NBC opted to shelve the episode, but O’Brien played a clip of the incident when he returned to the studio the following Monday. “For five seconds, I understood the plot of Lost,” he joked to Andy Richter.
Jon Stewart’s Margarita Massacre
In 2011, Jon Stewart held a “press conference” on The Daily Show parodying his former college buddy turned scandal-ridden politician, Anthony Weiner. During the spoof, he began to prepare a batch of frozen margaritas—only to cut himself on a sharp piece of glass in the process.
“I probably need to go to the hospital,” Stewart acknowledged, but soldiered on. “I’m bleeding out!” Turns out, Stewart was correct (at least on that first part): he ended up needing stitches.
David Letterman’s “Stupid Pet Trick” Gone Wrong
During a 2000 episode of Late Show, David Letterman took his “Stupid Pet Tricks” segment to a whole other level when a dog nearly bit his face off. The dog, Zeke, took a nip when the eager host got a bit too close. Letterman made a regular comedy bit out of the incident, repeatedly insisting to his audience that he was actually attacked by a “wild dingo.”
Stephen Colbert’s Act of Wrist Violence
On the set of The Colbert Report in 2007, Stephen Colbert broke his left wrist while performing his warm-up. He then proceeded to make“wrist violence awareness” his pet cause, campaigning against Hollywood for “glorifying” wrist violence and even going so far as to make “WristStrong” bracelets (both Brian Williams and Katie Couric helped share his WristStong message).
While it made for some fun comic fodder, ultimately the injury ended up benefiting a good cause. The incident left Colbert in a cast, which he used as a canvas for as many celebrity signatures as could gather. The cast was later auctioned off on eBay, where all proceeds were donated to the Yellow Ribbon Fund, a nonprofit that supports injured veterans.
Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show Ribbing
Johnny Carson badly injured his left rib while taping a segment ahead of a Tonight Show broadcast in 1980. During the sketch, he was supposed to fall backwards and land softly on a mat; instead, he hit his left side. “There were sounds from inside the body you don’t like to hear,” Carson told the audience later, visibly wincing in pain throughout the show. Subsequent X-rays revealed that while he didn’t break any ribs, he did tear some cartilage.
Letterman’s Potato-Peeled Finger
Never put Letterman on mashed potato duty at Thanksgiving. In 1987, the late-night host had an unfortunate accident involving a potato peeling device introduced during a segment with kitchen gadget pitchman Arnold Morris. Letterman sliced his finger, prompting a network nurse to come in and tend to his wound in the middle of the segment. “Stab victims don’t bleed like this,” Letterman joked.
Richard Belzer’s Hulk Hogan Choke Out
While filming Hot Properties in 1985, host Richard Belzer infamously asked WWE star Hulk Hogan to show him some wrestling moves. Hogan put the host in a “front chin lock,” causing Belzer to pass out and subsequently slip and hit his head on the floor while the audience watched on in horror.
Belzer was quickly rushed to the hospital, where he received nine stitches. He subsequently sued Hogan for $5 million in damages for personal injury; the case was eventually settled out of court.
“It was no joke,” Belzer later told ESPN’s Roy Firestone of the incident. “He came very close to killing me. I was told by sports medicine experts that if I had fallen a few inches either way, I could have been crippled for life. I could have been dead.”
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