Nicole Byer Jabs ‘Double-Denim Wearing B*tch’ Jay Leno on Kimmel

Another late-night host got in their licks at Jay Leno Thursday night as Nicole Byer poked fun at the former Tonight Show host during her Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue on her fourth night as substitute host on the show.

Riffing on the Perseid meteor shower that was seen in Croatia earlier this week, Byer joked, “Sadly, there’s so much light pollution in L.A., the only stars I can see are the ones that cut me off in traffic.”

The punchline then took an unexpected detour as Byer called out one of those aforementioned stars. “And yes, I’m talking to you, Jay Leno, driving your old-ass steam-powered jalopy. Get the f*ck off the freeway, you double-denim wearing b*tch!”

Leno has recently found himself back in the cross-hairs of the late-night community after he suggested today’s late-night host were too partisan in a story that made the rounds in the wake of CBS’s cancelling the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last month.

“I’m going to take a hard pass on taking comedic advice from Jay Leno,” John Oliver retorted when asked about Leno’s remarks in an interview last week.

Of course, Byer’s joke was just a joke—Leno is often spotted driving his classic cars (including several steam-powered vehicles) around Los Angeles, making him an obvious tag for a joke about the city’s celebrity drivers—but the timing and setting she chose to make it in is notable.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been no stranger to knocking Leno over the years. During the Conan-Leno Tonight Show debacle, Kimmel famously hosted an episode in full Leno cosplay, including a prosthetic chin. Days later, he took Leno to task on The Jay Leno Show, appearing via remote feed from his desk at JKL to deliver a memorable skewering.

Byer’s Thursday show was her final night of guest-hosting for the vacationing Kimmel. Next week, Tiffany Haddish will emcee the show after previously announced host Kumail Nanjiani had a scheduling conflict.