Welp, it’s official … Conan O’Brien and NBC have finally reached a deal wherein NBC will play O’Brien for essentially firing him from his contract to host The Tonight Show. As you may recall, O’Brien issued a letter last week that informed NBC that he would NOT be staying with the network in breach of his contract with them (ie. doing The Tonight Show at 12:05AM) and the matter fell to NBC to figure out a way to pay him accordingly for their eff up. After much negotiation, a deal was finally agreed upon … and Conan O’Brien will get at least $32 million (and up to $45 million) for his trouble:
Conan O’Brien and NBC worked out their final conflict hours ago and have reached a $45 million settlement … and we’ve learned it’s a sweeter deal for Conan than anyone thought. Network sources tell TMZ the “mitigation” clause was taken off the table. Translation — Conan will get a severance of $32.5 million, regardless of whether he gets another hosting gig. Not bad for seven months work. As we first reported, NBC will pay $7.5 million to Conan’s “Tonight Show” staff — and our sources believe the network added several thousand more to the pot at the last minute. In addition, NBC will pay a whopping $4.5 million to the executive producer. Conan’s last show is Friday. We’re told NBC hasn’t decided who will replace Conan for the period between Monday and the Winter Olympics.
As crappy as ALL of this is all around, at least Conan will be gettin’ a nice chunk of change for all the trouble he’s been thru. If he so desires, he could retire with his $45 million and live a nice, long life of workless leisure. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took some time off for a while after this fiasco before he even entertains a new gig … but Conan is a pro and if the right offer comes along, I’m guessing he’ll take it and will be back on TV soon. None of this is ideal but I’m happy to know that Conan and his staff aren’t gettin’ royally screwed by NBC‘s eff-up. The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien is dunzo, y’all. Let’s wish it a hearty Peace the Spork Out, officially.
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why conan? how about simon cowel? 300 million for AI and even more for x-factor and got talent…..
I meant celebrities in general. Conan just happened to be the one in the news today. When I posted earlier, I had just read about all the celebrities lining up for the telethon tomorrow. Madonna, who if the numbers haven’t changed gave somewhere around 250,000, yet she’s part of the telethon tomorrow to plead for the little money I have. That kind of bugged me, and then I read about Conan. I have no beef with Conan (still a Leno fan though), but it did make me think. However, like Kerry said this isn’t exactly the place for my long tirade.
meanwhile, Conan has been on fire this week – watch him while you still can!
Hehehe….. Conan got a great deal for not trying to work with NBC and do the Tonight Show at 12:05am.
Happy that Leno is back at 11:35pm. People are encouraging viewers to boycott and not watch Leno/NBC at 11:35pm. Umm… guess what? These “Conan” fans weren’t watching anyways! That is why Tonight Show ratings dropped after Leno left! If anything, the ratings will shoot right up again, giving Letterman a proper rival. I can’t stand Letterman. Team Leno!
@Lisa — Conan still had to ride on Leno’s coat tails after he got the Tonight Show! One of the reasons why the ratings were low was because of The Jay Leno show. Who wants to listen to the same joke at a later time slot when Leno’s was at 10? If Leno was classy enough, he should’ve been the one to bow out and get his settlement, not Conan. Six years ago Leno graciously said, “This show is yours in 2009, Conan.” Pfft.
Conan Forever, Leno Never
Not much is being said about Jimmy Fallon. He may be the next victim in this mess. Conan was a great lead in for his show.
He can now retire?! I’m pretty sure he could have retired before this and lived a very comfortable life as well.
I love you Conan! We’ll follow you wherever you go!