Introducing a segment about conspiracy theories on Thursday night’s Daily Show, Desi Lydic referenced one that’s picked up steam late this week on social media: that a badly bruised Jay Leno didn’t actually fall down a 60-foot hill like he told reporters earlier this week—and that instead he was the victim of a mafia beat-down.
It’s an outlandish idea that seems unlikely to be true. But fans have grabbed on to the theory in part due to the former Tonight Show host’s pattern of accidents in the past two years.
In November 2022, Leno seriously burned his face and hands in a vehicle fire at his garage, leading to multiple reconstructive surgeries. Just two months later, he broke his ribs, kneecaps, and collarbone in a motorcycle accident.
He joked at the time, “A 72-year-old man driving an 83-year-old motorcycle. What could go wrong?”
Now the 74-year-old comedian says that he fell down a hill outside a Pittsburgh-area hotel, where he “hit a bunch of rocks.” The accident left him with a broken wrist, a bruised face, a swollen-shut eye covered with an eyepatch, and injuries all along his left side.
Adding further intrigue to story is the fact that the famously mega-wealthy Leno, a man with a reported net worth of nearly half a billion dollars, was staying at a humble Hampton Inn.
Comic Kathleen Madigan came to Leno’s defense, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “I’ve known Jay Leno for 35 years. Yes he would stay here. Yes he would cut/climb down a hill for wings. It’s why I always liked him. Still just a road comic who wants 24 wings. Well, go get ’em.”
She quote-tweeted a local resident who said the fall happened 10 minutes from his house, sharing a photo of the restaurant he was walking to, Dino’s Sports Lounge.
Conspiracy theorists have also been struck by the specific injuries he received, with no visible abrasions exception having one of his fingernails torn off in the fall.
Leno himself has drawn more attention to the injuries by continuing to perform since receiving them, and choosing to speak directly with TMZ and Inside Edition about what happened. The fall may have caused more to jump to the conclusion of “gambling debts” since it came just a day after the massive Netflix boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul.
He also raised eyebrows when he told TMZ that he went ahead and performed just a couple of hours after his fall for 2,600 fans, not going to the hospital until after flying home to Los Angeles. He’s performed several more shows since.
Those speculating about Leno’s injuries include some notable names, such as John F. Kennedy’s grandson and media personality Jack Schlossberg, The Nation columnist Jeet Heer, comedian Joe Kwaczala, and former Ziwe producer Zara Rahim,.
Schlossberg wrote on X, “Is this Jay Leno story real? ‘I fell’? Sorry, not buying that. Someone beat the crap outta Jay Leno. I want an answer.”
Several amateur sleuths have turned to photos and maps of the hotel to make their case, arguing whether or not it was steep enough for him to end up injured the way he was.
Representatives for Leno did not immediately respond to a request from LateNighter for comment.
Occam’s razor of the simplest answer being the right one may remain the most logical conclusion here. As sports analyst Jonathan Coachman put it, “Maybe he is just getting older and needs to be careful.”
Or as writer Zach Harris put it, “Everyone loves ‘The Sopranos’ too much, but it was America’s awful car-centric infrastructure that sent Jay Leno to the hospital, not mobsters or bookies.”
Whatever the answer, we’re sending our best wishes for a quick recovery to Leno.
You can watch Jay Leno discuss his fall in the videos above, and you can see him do stand-up several times a week, probably for the rest of his life.
Jay is an American Original. May he be safe and healthy soon. I dearly miss and like him.