Jay Leno Pays Tribute to Onetime Rival David Letterman Ahead of Mark Twain Prize Ceremony | THR News - video Dailymotion

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Former 'Tonight Show' host Jay Leno pays tribute to his onetime rival, David Letterman, who’ll accept the 2017 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center on Sunday in Washington, D.C.

Transcript

00:00You make a pretty good point there, pal.

00:01Yeah, I think so, David.

00:05That's right. That's why we're here.

00:06Somebody made a point on this show.

00:08Long-time David Letterman rival and former Tonight Show host Jay Leno is speaking out about Letterman,

00:15who will be honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center October 22nd.

00:20The award celebrates the achievements of American comedic talents

00:23and has been awarded to such past honorees as Richard Pryor, Steve Martin,

00:28Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Bill Murray, and, yes, Jay Leno.

00:35When we started out together in the early 1980s, Dave's performance skill wasn't quite there yet

00:40because he hadn't done it enough, Leno tells The Hollywood Reporter's Patrick Shanley.

00:44But he was a natural.

00:45When I first met him, I asked him, how can you be so natural up there? I'm scared to death.

00:51He said, I just do it.

00:53While Leno claims that the best days of his career were doing Late Night with David Letterman on NBC,

00:58he admits that some of their storied rivalry was serious.

01:01The idea that there was a huge rift between me and Dave?

01:04Yeah, of course there was, says Leno.

01:06I think Dave felt really sad he didn't get The Tonight Show, and our shows were very competitive.

01:11Whether it's two sports teams or two boxers, you can trash talk each other,

01:15but it doesn't mean you don't respect each other.

01:17I think there was a mutual admiration.

01:20It's not that we have a lot in common.

01:22We don't, but I think that we have a mutual admiration for each other's ability to make each other laugh.

01:27Leno says you have to be reasonably thick-skinned in the late-night business,

01:31but some of the negativity he's endured has not made him laugh.

01:35When other people go, Leno's an asshole.

01:37Well, that's not funny, I'm sorry.

01:39But Dave would always go about it in a funny way.

01:41There was no animosity there.

01:42Comics have a bond.

01:44You have more in common with your worst enemy if they're a comic than you do with your best friend,

01:48because you share something that regular people just don't get.

01:52The ex Tonight Show host says he hasn't spoken to Letterman recently.

01:55He can be a quirky character, says Leno.

01:57It's just Dave being Dave.

01:59When I see him with the beard, I smile because other people go,

02:02why does Dave have that beard? He looks creepy.

02:05That's just his sense of humor.

02:06But I'm thrilled that Dave is getting the Mark Twain Award.

02:09It's a great award.

02:10It's Mark Twain, and it gives my Mark Twain prize in 2015 credence.

02:14For more from Jay Leno on David Letterman, head to THR.com.

02:18And let us know your favorite Letterman memory in the comments.

02:21For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.

Jay Leno Pays Tribute to Onetime Rival David Letterman Ahead of Mark Twain Prize Ceremony | THR News

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