Why was Jay Leno staying at the Hampton Inn in the first place?
The former host of The Tonight Show has been retired from late night television since 2014, but I don't think he's hurting for money, especially with the success of Jay Leno's Garage, his CNBC show that aired from 2014 to 2022 showing off his classic car collection and talking about his love for cars and motorcycles.
So when the comedian showed up yesterday sporting a massive bruise on the side of his face, a broken wrist, and an eye that was swollen shut - injuries that he claimed were from a fall at a Hampton Inn, the internet wasn't buying it.
Leno showed off the injuries during an interview with Inside Edition, explaining that he was staying at the Hampton Inn near Pittsburgh before performing a stand-up comedy show. While heading out to dinner, he says that he decided to take a shortcut down a hill, but fell and tumbled 60 feet on the way down.
The comedy legend still managed to make it to his show that evening, but his injuries definitely left their mark:
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1859082305349792070
This isn't the first time Leno has suffered from serious injuries in a bizarre accident. Back in 2023, he was severely burned while working on his classic cars, suffering third degree burns across his face, hands and chest.
And just a few months later, he was in a motorcycle accident and broke several bones. Just a terrible run of luck, right?
Well at this point, the internet thinks there might be something else behind all of Leno's mysterious injuries: The mob.
https://twitter.com/OsheaJacksonJr/status/1859125766438387792
Of course the fact that he said he was staying at a Hampton Inn only added fuel to the fire that Leno might owe money to the mafia from some gambling debt:
https://twitter.com/BabelHodl/status/1859086592784073041
https://twitter.com/Jas_Stoned/status/1859237300372119636
https://twitter.com/GeoffinLincoln/status/1859282531796844655
https://twitter.com/HustleBitch_/status/1859084862285602820
https://twitter.com/NicoDelacroix/status/1859090719610413263
And if it wasn't the mob, could it have been...somebody else who's after Leno? Well the internet has some other theories too - like Bill and Hillary Clinton:
https://twitter.com/NotKennyRogers/status/1859299511220294070
Or his rival late night talk show host Conan O'Brien. In case you're not familiar with the history between the two, O'Brien was once promised that he would take over for Leno on The Tonight Show - without the network telling Leno of the arrangement.
NBC attempted to find a solution by moving Conan to The Tonight Show and giving Leno his own show which would air immediately following Conan. But with ratings for both shows suffering, Leno was ultimately moved back to his original timeslot and Conan settled with the network to get out of his contract and move his show to TBS.
So naturally, he's the prime suspect for some people in this long string of mysterious injuries to Leno:
https://twitter.com/FistedFoucault/status/1859291752991220079
https://twitter.com/JVinDC/status/1859289792195792962
https://twitter.com/MinddKidzag/status/1859094617708208282
Now, for the record, I don't think there's anything more sinister at play here, other than Leno being a clumsy and apparently severely unlucky old man who might take some unnecessary risks for someone his age.
But then again, can we ever REALLY rule out the mob? Makes you think...
