Jay Leno admits why he let Jimmy Kimmel humiliate him on his own show: 'My mistake'

Jay Leno is looking back at the infamous case that sparked his long-running feud with Jimmy Kimmel While appearing on The Jay Leno Show in Kimmel repeatedly took shots at Leno over the notorious Tonight Show debacle involving Conan O'Brien On Wednesday's episode of In Depth With Graham Bensinger Leno shared his regrets over the on-camera encounter with Kimmel and revealed why he decided not to cut the comedian's jabs at him from the final broadcast When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show I let it happen I didn t edit it Leno recalled He continued It was my mistake I trusted somebody I went Ah I made a mistake OK I should pay the price And it s fine it s fine I mean we could have edited it out of the show JAY LENO WIFE MAVIS RELY ON FAITH FAMILY TO OVERCOME LIFE'S HARDSHIPS Why didn't you Bensinger requested Because it happened Leno explained It s real it happened It s my mistake That s how you learn When Bensinger questioned if Leno's decision was a mistake because the interaction made for good TV the comedian explained he didn't view it in that light It's not good TV for me because it started a whole thing that continues to this day really he noted But it's okay it's alright He's a comic you do what you gotta do I mean I wouldn't have done it but that's okay That's alright It is what it is The circumstance with Leno and Kimmel stemmed from a widely-publicized conflict over the succession plan for NBC's hit late-night show The Tonight Show In Leno agreed to step down as host of The Tonight Show so O'Brien could take over In return Leno was given his own primetime talk show The Jay Leno Show When both shows struggled in the ratings NBC proposed moving Leno's show back to late night and pushing The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien to a later timeslot O'Brien refused and left the setup while Leno returned to hosting The Tonight Show The fiasco resulted in a major backlash against Leno and NBC Kimmel who was a supporter of O'Brien made headlines for his appearance on Leno's talk show a year later during which he called out the host for his role in the argument When Leno inquired Kimmel about the best prank he had ever pulled Kimmel joked I stated a guy that five years from now I'm going to give you my show and then when the five years came I gave it to him and then I took it back almost instantly Earlier this week Kimmel also addressed his feud with Leno during an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live On Wednesday the comedian teased guest Ben Affleck as the actor walked on stage saying You have that look on your face that you sometimes have when I see you where you're like 'What is he gonna do Is he gonna do something ' I'm not going to do anything he assured Affleck before adding It's not going to be like when I came to your house for Christmas and I walk in the door and then Jay Leno walks right in after me and then we're both uncomfortably making small talk with you and you go 'Oh yeah you both have something with each other ' and then I had to stay in there LIKE WHAT YOU RE READING CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Believe it or not I didn't follow the nuance of your gossip history Affleck recounted him No you just dropped a grenade right on us Kimmel quipped Affleck recalled witnessing the pair's uncomfortable exchange remembering It was like 'This is painful enough What's weird Is something weird Have you guys been insulting each other publicly for decades While the two comedians have publicly traded barbs over the years since the circumstance Kimmel revealed in that they had mended their rift The late-night host informed The Hollywood Reporter that it was the birth of his infant son that broke the silence between the two men CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER Jay and I have made peace After my son had his operation he called me and he was very nice Kimmel's son William John now was born with a heart defect that required urgency surgery Looking back Kimmel explained the rivalry was rooted in his love for David Letterman Letterman had hoped to take over hosting The Tonight Show following Johnny Carson's departure in but he left NBC for CBS when Leno was tapped for the role instead You have to remember how much I love David Letterman When all that stuff happened I was just a fan reading Bill Carter's book 's The Late Shift Letterman Leno and the Infrastructure Battle for the Night and there was a villain and a hero and Dave was the hero and Jay was the villain I started off with a negative feeling about it I sometimes insert myself into situations I have no business inserting myself into However Kimmel commented he had softened his stance on Leno following the kind-hearted phone call You can't argue with Leno's success and his longevity I will say when I was in high school and college he was one of my all-time favorite comics