conan tells NBC to f**k itself, is leaving the tonight show

Less than an hour ago, Conan O’Brien released a statement announcing that he will not sit by while NBC breaks promises made to him and his staff over the past six years and twists technicalities in his contract to move ‘the Tonight Show’ in order to make room for Jay Leno. In part it reads…

The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn’t the Tonight Show.
…if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.
So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.

The good news is that Leno and NBC can use that “us against the world” mentality to “circle the wagons” and motivate themselves. The bad news is that the mentality is completely justified and everyone hates them.