Jimmy Fallon Joins Bluesky, Is Immediately Dogpiled
Jimmy Fallon is the latest celebrity to join Bluesky, the new Twitter-like social media platform from Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. “Jumping in,” announced Fallon, introducing himself to Bluesky with an initial post. “Piling on,” replied the social media hordes, who wasted no time in pummeling the Tonight Show host. More than 700 kicks to the groin — er, replies — on your first post? Impressive!
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Today’s entertainment headlines gave Bluesky users plenty of cannon fodder. “'Fallon' Is First Late-Night Show to Stop Paying Staff Amid Strike: Report,” blares The Daily Beast. “Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show' to Place Non-Writing Staff on Unpaid Leave Amid Writers' Strike,” bleats The Wrap. The comedian’s behavior looks especially heinous considering other late-night shows and/or their hosts are keeping the paychecks coming, at least for now.
So Bluesky users are imploring Fallon to do right by his staff in the way that Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel, and Stephen Colbert reportedly are. “Pay your writers, idiot” is a typical Bluesky reply. (We’ll put on our “well, actually” hat for just a moment to point out that it's not the Tonight Show writers but its “non-writing, non-union staff,” such as make-up artists and cue-card holders, who will be losing paychecks after Friday. But yeah, it still sucks.)
Unsurprisingly, it’s not going any better for Fallon over on the original Bluesky, that voracious hellscape known as Twitter. Innocuous Fallon tweets are getting put on blast by fans supporting Tonight Show staffers:
Suggestion: While we’re pounding Fallon, maybe let’s reserve a few body blows for NBC and Tonight Show production company (and Lorne Michaels front) Broadway Video, both of which have much deeper pockets than the host. Would it kill them to keep hard-working staff on the payroll for a few more weeks? Come to think of it, Lorne ($30 million in annual salary), are you paying Saturday Night Live staff while the show is on pause? But we get it, Fallon has an annual paycheck of $16 million and a punchable face, making him a better, easier target than faceless corporations.
Late-night comedy is just going to get uglier from here. Will the other hosts be able to pay their staffs indefinitely in a strike that experts predict will last for months? Will non-union staffers become less united in their support of the WGA as their savings accounts dwindle? There’s only one winner in this situation: Alleged union-buster James Corden, off smoking a big fat cigar where he belongs.
