Last Sunday, Conan O'Brien used his first contractually-permitted television interview in months to relive his traumatic Tonight Show shakedown. Scarred, Coco did his best to not badmouth NBC or Jay Leno outright, instead using phrases like "I would not have done that if positions were reversed." In fact, the comedian only really lobbed two accusations NBC's way, allowing the rest of his heartbreak to go unspoken -- er, spoken by his wife Liza. Unsatisfied, NBC sources placed an anonymous call this morning to clear up a few lingering issues.
If you recall on Sunday, Conan O'Brien actually gave NBC some credit, acknowledging that their decision to let Conan go -- as opposed to Leno, who was rumored to have required a $150 million buyout -- was the smarter business move. For some reason, anonymous NBC sources felt the need to refute this claim -- a claim that rationalized their motives -- by revealing that "the buyouts for Conan and Jay were roughly the same."
The sources also addressed Conan's belief that his Tonight Show could not possibly have lost money for NBC. According to the sources, though:
...the show would not only have lost more than $5 million this year had they kept Conan on, but the loss was specifically discussed with Conan -- "They were well-informed of that fact," said one source.
Shouldn't a network go on record if they legitimately want to defend their multi-million dollar business decisions?
ยท NBC to Conan O'Brien: Pants on Fire! [TMZ]