Jay Leno paid his dues by appearing on fellow comedian Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast.
The former “Tonight Show” host clarified a floating rumor that injuries to his face were from a beating by the mob due to owed gambling debts.
In November, Leno revealed that he broke his wrist and sustained significant bruising on his face and body after falling down a 60-foot hill outside his hotel.
Hours after the fall, the acclaimed stand-up comedian took the stage for a show wearing an eye patch.
Maher asked Leno about the rumors, to which Jay responded, “Well, I like the idea that they wouldn’t just take one of my cars for the gambling debt.”
Leno, a long-time automobile enthusiast, is known to have hundreds of collectible cars in his personal garage worth millions of dollars.
JAY LENO ‘FEELING GOOD’ DESPITE SUFFERING BRUISED FACE FROM FALL
He did, however, remember an encounter with the mafia when he was a young comedian.
“I was pretty smart,” he said. “I remember years ago I was at Catch a Rising Star, and I was onstage, and this guy – a mob guy – comes up to me afterwards, and he goes, ‘Hey, you’re a funny kid. You’re a funny kid.’
“He takes $100, and he puts it in my pocket. I say, ‘Oh, thank you.’ I say, ‘Look, I don’t mean any disrespect but, you know, give it to the church or something… I’m OK, but thank you.’ And he says to me, ‘You know, you’re a smart kid. You don’t take money from people like me. That’s smart.’ And nobody ever bothered me again.”
While Leno admitted he never had any trouble, he witnessed the mob “kick the crap out of comics left and right” for being “wise a——s” onstage.
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He also didn’t understand the rumors simply because he doesn’t like losing money.
“I don’t gamble,” Leno confessed. “Losing 100 bucks makes me feel stupider than winning one thousand makes me feel good. Because I go, ‘I could have taken my wife to dinner.'”
Last month, the comedian told “Inside Edition” that he broke his wrist, sustained significant bruising on his face and body and lost a fingernail after falling down a rocky 60-foot hill.
His hotel fall was just the latest in a string of traumatic incidents for Leno, who was also “knocked off” his motorcycle in January 2023.
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Leno sustained two broken ribs, broke his kneecaps and a collarbone after being clotheslined while riding his motorcycle through a parking lot.
“I turned down a side street and cut through a parking lot, and unbeknownst to me, some guy had a wire strung across the parking lot but with no flag hanging from it,” Leno told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“I didn’t see it until it was too late. It just clotheslined me and, boom, knocked me off the bike. The bike kept going, and you know how that works out.”
In 2022, Leno underwent multiple surgeries after suffering third-degree burns in a gasoline fire. Leno reportedly suffered significant burns to his face and hands as well as his chest while working underneath a car in his Burbank-area garage.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
