Leno is a douche.
His peers don't like him. The whole purpose of his "Tonight Show" is for celebrities to showcase their new movies or television series, books or whatever - yet it is widely known that many will not appear specifically because of him.
He has stolen bit routines from a number of comics, which in a way are so generic as to be public domain, yet he won't cop to that. Like Jay Walking, for example - he could say "Its a man on the street, everybody's done it". Instead, he insists it's original.
I won't even get into the Conan thing.
Moreover, if you look at his Wiki page, he has donated a grand total of $200,000 to charity. He has
Marshaled fund-raising benefits, but thats not the same. That 200k comes from an estimated fortune of $150+ million. Asshole.
If I feel bad for anyone throughout the whole "late night wars" fiasco, it's Carson. He was horrified at the direction the network took after he left, and I don't blame him.
Leno's own biographical co-writer has said:
Bill Zehme, the co-author of Leno's autobiography Leading with My Chin, told the Los Angeles Times: "The thing Leno should do is walk, period. He's got everything to lose in terms of public popularity by going back. People will look at him differently. He'll be viewed as the bad guy."[48]
Kevin Eubanks left him, a perfectly lucrative gig. (although he says there was no personal animosity).
He stole "Stuttering John" Melendez as an announcer from Stern, when there are literally thousands of voice actors in a five-mile radius who can fill the role. (a move which ended up fucking John badly, because he's now a script writer and not used for acts or voice work).
Lastly, if you check his wardrobe, he is a constant violator of the denim+denim rule. No class.
Yes, Leno is a huge douche.