Jay Leno Seriously Injured in Motorcycle Accident Months After Garage Fire
For the second time in three months, comedian Jay Leno has injured himself in an incident related to his vast collection of vehicles that he restores and drives.
Leno, who in November suffered severe burns to his face and body after a fire in the garage where he keeps his vehicle collection, revealed the incident during an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“That was the first accident. OK? Then just last week, I got knocked off my motorcycle. So I’ve got a broken collarbone. I’ve got two broken ribs. I’ve got two cracked kneecaps,” he said. The Review-Journal specified that Leno had gotten into this new motorcycle accident on Jan. 17.
Leno, who is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas at the end of March, quickly insisted, “But I’m OK. I’m OK, I’m working. I’m working this weekend.”
Leno said that on Jan. 17, he was working on a 1940 Indian motorcycle. He smelled the unmistakable odor of gasoline.
“So I turned down a side street and cut through a parking lot, and unbeknownst to me, some guy had a wire strung across the parking lot but with no flag hanging from it,” Leno said.
“I didn’t see it until it was too late. It just clothesline me and, boom, knocked me off the bike. The bike kept going, and you know how that works out,” he said.
Leno said he kept quiet about the incident to avoid more coverage about his health.
“You know, after getting burned up, you get that one for free. After that, you’re Harrison Ford, crashing airplanes. You just want to keep your head down,” he said.
Leno noted in the interview that to avoid getting burned on stage, he has dropped politics from his act.
“When I was doing ‘The Tonight Show,’ you would get people pissed on both sides, ‘Leno, you and your Democratic friends,’ or, ‘Leno, you and your Republican friends.’ I was proud of myself for not giving away any political beliefs. It was just about the joke,” he said.
“Nowadays, people are mad if you don’t say how you feel. I’ve just taken politics out of the act, altogether. I just don’t discuss anymore. It’s like before the punch line, they’re deciding, ‘Is he pro-my guy, or against my guy?’” he said.
Leno has said that in November, while working on his 1907 White steam car, its fuel line was clogged, leading him to go under the car to fix it, according to NBC.
“And I said, ‘Blow some air through the line.’ Then suddenly, boom, I got a face full of gas. And then the pilot light jumped, and my face caught on fire. My friend pulled me out and jumped on top of me and kind of smothered the fire,” Leno said.
Leno has told People that “It felt exactly like my face was on fire. Maybe like the most intense sunburn you’ve ever had, that’d be fair to say.”
In his comments to People, he made a prediction.
“I’m sure I’ll continue to do the same stupid things I’ve always done. Just maybe a little bit more carefully!” he said.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, based on a source it did not name, CNBC has decided to cancel Leno’s show “Jay Leno’s Garage,” which has been running since 2015. No official announcement about the show’s future has been made.
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