Jay Leno issued a statement days after Gabrielle Union departed from “America’s Got Talent” amid controversy.
“I love Gabrielle Union. She’s a great girl. I really enjoyed working with her,” Leno said. “She’s really good.”
When he was asked about whether she was treated fairly on the program, he replied, “I don’t know … but I think she’s a great girl.”
The report also alleged that she and host Julianne Hough, who departed the show alongside Union, were subject to “excessive notes” about their physical appearance. Regarding the joke, Union reportedly wanted the show’s producers to take the matter up with the human resources department but nothing was done.
Leno didn’t comment on the alleged joke when he was asked by a TMZ reporter about it.
Hough, meanwhile, said she didn’t have any issues while working on the show.
“I had a wonderful time on America’s Got Talent, I loved working with the cast, crew, and producers,” Hough told People.
On social media, a number of celebrities slammed NBC and expressed their support for Union.
In the wake of the book’s release, the digital portion of NBC News announced on Oct. 30 it formed a union and alleged the network “mishandled” sexual assault allegations, including those against longtime “Today” show host Matt Lauer.
“Recent weeks have highlighted serious questions as to how NBC News has handled incidents of sexual misconduct in the workplace as well as the opaque processes and procedures for reporting on and exposing powerful predators. NBC News repeatedly refused calls for an independent review on both counts despite numerous such requests from staff. This lack of transparency and NBC News’ troubling trend of passing on stories which investigate the powerful ultimately harm our credibility as journalists,” the union added.