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‘I’m a little beat up’: Injured Jay Leno still performs at comedy show after falling down 60-ft hill

November 20, 2024 | | Print Article

Former late-night television host Jay Leno shocked fans when he arrived at a Pennsylvania comedy show with an eye patch, a bruised face, and a broken wrist.

The injuries were not part of his comedy routine but were sustained in a harrowing fall down a 60-foot hill.

Before the show last week, Leno decided to take a shortcut down a hillside near the Hampton Inn he was staying at outside of Pittsburgh where he was scheduled to perform later that evening. But his attempt to shave time off the walk to a local restaurant saw him plunge 60 feet down the hill.

“I’m a little beat up,” the 74-year-old, wearing a patch over his left eye, told Inside Edition.”

(Video Credit: Inside Edition)

“I fell 60 feet. Boom, boom, boom, boom,” Leno recounted, saying he “hit a bunch of rocks,” and ended up “all black and blue.”

He explained that a rock hit him in the eye, which was swollen shut as he showed the camera. He also lost a fingernail in the fall.

Amazingly, hours later, Leno was in front of the audience at his scheduled show.

The former “Tonight Show” host also spoke with TMZ about the incident, explaining that he did not have a car that night and opted to walk to the restaurant.

“The hill doesn’t look that steep – about 60, 70 feet. Let me see if I can down there…,” he screamed as he retold the events leading up to the fall.

(Video Credit: TMZ)

“It isn’t a big deal, it’s alright,” he told TMZ.

Leno was treated for severe burns in November 2022 after a fire as he worked on one of his cars in his home garage. He sustained injuries to his face, chest, and hands and was treated in LA’s Grossman Burn Center.

Last year, he was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him with a broken collarbone and ribs as well as cracked kneecaps.

TMZ asked the comedian about his seeming run of bad luck.

“The great thing about this age is that you don’t learn by your mistakes – you just keep doing the same stupid things,” he joked.

The show must go on for the indomitable Leno as he is still set to perform on Nov. 20 at the Comedy for a Cause event in Hermosa Beach, California, raising money for the Grossman Burn Foundation.

Social media users wished Leno well and marveled at his ability to keep going.

Frieda Powers
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