Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon Staff Going on Unpaid Leave as Writers' Strike Continues

dThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon staff will not be paid during the Writers Guild of America strike, a position that breaks with what other late night shows are doing. Non-writing, non-union staff will be placed on unpaid leaves of absence for the duration of the WGA strike, according to Sarah Kobos, who is the show's research coordinator. Posting to social media, Kobos said that the network paid two weeks' worth of salary, and Fallon himself went out of pocket for one week, but as the strike heads into its fourth week, staffers will be on their own. 

Kobos posted that the staff on Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will continue to be paid. Colbert appears on CBS, but Meyers follows The Tonight Show on NBC, suggesting that this is a Tonight Show mandate, not a network one. Years ago, Conan O'Brien reportedly paid his staff out of pocket when he and NBC parted ways on The Tonight Show, and Jay Leno brought his own staff in to the show. Many (but not all) of O'Brien's staff moved with him to TBS's Conan, where he worked until 2021.

"This Friday is our last day of pay," Kobos tweeted. "We (non-union staff who aren't writers) will be put on an 'unpaid leave of absence' during the strike."

"Meanwhile I hear folks at 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' and 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert' will continue to be paid," she added. "Solidarity with WGA!"

Cutting off pay to non-union staff is a common tactic by management, who hope to erode support for the striking workers among their colleagues and co-workers. NBC and Fallon had telegraphed the decision at the start of the strike, but after Kobos and others shamed them publicly, they came to an agreement where NBC would pay the staff for two weeks. That's when Fallon jumped on board and offered to pay a third week. Their "leave of absence" also includes medical benefits at least through September.

Fallon has been publicly supportive of the strike in the public eye, including making some fairly generic but supportive comments at the Met Gala, which took place days before the start of the strike.

Fallon and other late-night shows have gone off the air without writers to punch up the jokes. While many scripted series are still weeks away from the end of their season, talk shows and other daily, quasi-live productions are generally at a standstill while the strike happens.