Perhaps you saw the headline: “Jay Leno Just Signed a $1 Billion Deal with CBS for a Late Night Show Opposite to Jimmy Kimmel.”
Over the weekend, a Facebook post with that headline received more than 46,000 likes. It was not/is not true.
Turns out the story originated on a “satire” site called esspots earlier in March. Snopes debunked the story then, and posted an update earlier today.
True or not, commenters on the Facebook post heralded the news.
“I used to enjoy late night comedy. Then it became political and not very funny. Haven’t watched in years. If Jay comes back, I’m all in,” wrote one.
“Kimmel is so anti-American!” wrote another.
The first tip off that the headline was suspect should have been that $1 billion figure, but it’s not the first time a story like this has made the rounds.
After David Letterman made a highly rated visit to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in December, RadarOnline reported that CBS execs were hoping to woo the host back to late night, quoting an unnamed “insider.” (Radar isn’t a satire site, but this particular story sure smacked of it.)
And all of this came before April Fool’s Day. Lord only knows what awaits us today.
