| Earlier this month, the comedian Conan O’Brien paid his first visit to the “Tonight Show” since his ill-fated run as host, which lasted for about seven chaotic months in 2009 and 2010. Since the fifties, the “Tonight Show” had delivered a comforting mix of late-night laughter and celebrity interviews, but during O’Brien’s tenure the program had become a soap opera, with most of the action unfolding off camera as O’Brien and the previous host, Jay Leno—who had started a new series—tussled over time slots, guests, and their reputations. More than a decade after the debacle, O’Brien avoided mentioning Leno by name during a recent conversation about the show. In 1992, The New Yorker’s Peter J. Boyer wrote about another “Tonight Show” drama that happened largely behind the scenes. Most Americans older than Gen Z remember the bad blood between Leno and David Letterman, a former friend who had appeared to be the “Tonight Show” ’s heir apparent before Leno ascended instead. But an even older relationship unravelled around that time: the partnership between Leno and Helen Kushnick, his longtime manager and a supporter back when casting agents considered Leno too strange-looking for TV. Kushnick and her husband had loaned Leno money when his standup work wasn’t covering his bills; in the aftermath of a series of family tragedies, Kushnick’s daughter, Sara, referred to the comedian as Uncle Jay. Yet as Leno took the reins at “Tonight,” and Kushnick became executive producer, her aggressive approach alienated agents, A-listers (including, notably, Elizabeth Taylor), and network executives. Kushnick smelled sexism, but hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake. Four months into Leno’s tenure, network representatives visited their new star at home and offered a stark choice. “He could leave with her,” Boyer recounted, “or he could keep his job.” | 
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