CBS’ 60 Minutes is currently airing its much-hyped interview with Conan O’Brien, in which he talks for the first time about his not-so-pleasant exit from NBC and The Tonight Show. Not surprisingly, O’Brien describes the situation like “a marriage breaking up suddenly, violently, quickly.” Read on for a few quotes from the 60 Minutes segment, and be sure to come back to EW.com later tonight for a more in-depth look at the interview. (UPDATE: Click over to see Dan Snierson’s take on Conan O’Brien’s 60 Minutes interview.)
STEVE KROFT: You must have been miserable for the last couple of months?
CONAN O’BRIEN: I went through some stuff. And I got very depressed at times. It was like a marriage breaking up suddenly, violently, quickly. And I was just trying to figure out what happened. When we started putting this tour together, I started to feel better almost immediately. And then this there is this, there is almost no better antidote to what I’ve just been through than to do this every night.
SK: Was it in the back of your mind that look, if I don’t do that well, they can just pop Leno back in?
CO: I’m a paranoid person. And I think — I’m the kind of person that can come up with lots of negative scenarios. But I remembered thinking that seemed like — that was a stretch even for me.
—-
CO: It just felt like the tone went very quickly from, “Take your time, we understand this is a tough decision,” to — (SNAPS HIS FINGERS) you know, “Let’s go.” and that probably helped me a little bit feel like, “You know what? This environment doesn’t feel right and I’ve been with these people a long time. And I don’t like– I really don’t like the way this is going. And when it started to get toxic and I started to feel that I’m not sure these– people even really want me here. Let’s just — let’s just — I can’t do it.
CokeHo better do all the talking now because once he starts on TBS, he won’t have an audience to listen to his lies and propaganda.
I’m with Jay all teh Way!
oh Mavis we can see you love Jay…but seriously trolling EW…Jay must be as boring at home as he is on TV. BTW….he sucked at the Correspondents Dinner in DC
Did he ever! All those fake videos were dumb
Nice spelling of “the.”
Thanks! I made it all teh way to grade 4!
Repetitive post is repetitive.
kimmel would have punched leno in the balls if he went to abc.and that would have been funny!!
It’s my job to be repetitive. My job. My Job. Repetitiveness is my job.
I didn’t know 80 years old could use the internet! (Considering the ‘people who like Jay and find him funny’ demograph are all 80+ and corpses and jorts-enthusiasts).
Enjoy your flomax Leno Lovers
Geritol makes people nasty.
why the fuck do you care enough to be with either of these two sideshows enough to post about it?plenty of people are out of work and you people care about conan having or not having a job?idiots.
Seeing him on tour!!! Always loved him and always will. Team Coco!
He’s coming to Ohio State. I am SO excited I don’t have to drive to Toronto to see him, but he would’ve been the worth the drive.
Even moreso after the interview. So much respect for that man.
I think he was very fair with his interview. A lesser person would have really dug into NBC and Jay. He seems to really have his head on straight. Cant wait for his show.
I agree. I think the interview went well and Conan is going to do great on TBS.
I agree. It was a good interview. Some nice humor mixed in as well.
Missed him sooooo much. Good to see him again. love the beard, man.
I really like Conan, but he came off a little too whiny. Then he realized what he said and mentioned that he’ll be alright with 35 million in his pocket and a new show on TBS.
Little whiny ! That is all he has done since the word came out. Doesn’t he know that this is business and that if he doesn’t have the ratings, he doesn’t have the show.
As a Team Coco member from Cedar Rapids, I respectfully ask that you not embarrass my state any further.
You are all idiots. He wasn’t whining. He hardly complained at all. He made his point stating that the show would be ruined if it moved to another time slot. He stood up for the franchise itself, not for himself.
He was not whining. He said he understand it as a business decision, but their treatment of him during it was horrible. They tried to trash him in the press. They made up things and tried to cover themselves, when there was no cover.
“I was depressed” “my heart was broken” “I wouldn’t do that to Jay”….that was definitely whining. Even Conan would admit he was whining, that’s why he started back-tracking and said how well he was getting paid to walk. Hey, I like his brand of comedy, I hope he does well, but move on…there’s nothin’ here to see.
Burtha your command of the English language may be shaky or you have a hearing problem – he said he tells people he DID NOT GET SCREWED, he repeatedly said I’m fine. Also some people in this world care about something more than money, in Conan’s case it appeared to professional pride in his work and reaching a dream of hosting the Tonight Show so he is entitled to say how he feels.
Whining? No.. the whole point of this interview was to get everyone to stop saying “poor conan.. are you ok?” and move on.
Conan o’brien is a beautiful person. so yeah keep listening to jay leno’s stupid jokes and all the people who actually have good taste can watch tbs.
AGREED
It was great to see Conan again!
It felt like Conan was holding back, trying to not say anything that would get him in trouble with NBC’s contract, and I bet that was hard. I’m happy he’s doing the tour (I’m very upset I couldn’t get tickets for it) and I can’t wait to see him again when he’s on TBS.
Yeah I saw it too.
I did not see anything that closely resembled “whining”. Conan answered Steve Kroft’s questions with honesty and dignity, which is more than can be said for Jay.
Two whole quotes? It must have taken all night to write this article!
I’ve missed him so much! Listen, I’m so over this Conan vs. Jay ordeal, and I think he is too. I don’t care who wins in the ratings, who gets more viewers or their respective age groups. What matters is that this November, I get to enjoy my favorite show again.
i agree! ive never been so excited for the month of november before haha
conan ‘s pittty me routine sucks use too love now I can stand the man sorry
You never loved me.
Haha, that was great!
LOL!
You obviously didn’t pay attention to the interview. He does not feel like he got screwed. He believed that NBC wanted to go a different direction, and since then Conan has made the best out of his situation. I wish him luck in his future.
Jay will screw you bad, is that what you like though, TeamJay?
Everyone of these Conan columns have so many CoCo supporters….but where were they during his run on the tonight show? Why did the ratings tank with so many ‘loyal’ supporters? I suspect Conan’s ratings will tank as well on cable. Oh wait, tanking ratings are the norm for cable. He’ll be little more than an afterthought, much like George Lopez. Yesterday’s news.
You mean like your boy tanked in Washington last night?
Actually, I’m a letterman supporter. I am supprised Leno did as badly as he did though.
I’m not…he’s not funny.
It’s called “we’re not neilsen families”
amen to that. someone needs to kick nielsen ratings in the balls, I hate those things…
Where were Leno’s supporters when Leno was on at 10pm?
I think Conan was better suited for the 12:35 time-slot. I know I watched his show far more often when he was on at 12:35 than when he was on at 11:35. I don’t have time to watch a late-night talk show before midnight, and I suspect many of Conan’s viewers feel the same way.
Actually, George Lopez has a very funny and entertaining talk show. We watch it alot. It will be funny to see how Conan and George will work out. In most parts of the country they can be seen at 7 or 8 PM, so the people that want to watch can (or tape).
It always seemed that the whole issue was much more complicated than what we know. In the meantime, can we stop forming “teams”?
Leno and Coney are both good.