Entertainment TV Jay Leno Speaks Out About Claims He 'Sabotaged' Conan O'Brien's 'Tonight Show' : 'It Doesn't Work That Way' O'Brien took over hosting duties at The Tonight Show after Leno's departure in May 2009, but Leno made a surprise return months later — and O'Brien switched networks — after ratings declined By Stephanie Wenger Stephanie Wenger Stephanie Wenger is a TV Writer/Reporter at PEOPLE. She joined the brand in 2021 as a digital news writer, covering stories spanning across the site's verticals. She previously contributed E! Online, Hollywood Life and Oscar.com. People Editorial Guidelines Published on August 2, 2022 12:58PM EDT Photo: Vivien Killilea/Getty Images; Rich Fury/Getty Images Jay Leno opened up about the late-night drama that was sparked after he left — and later returned — to The Tonight Show more than a decade ago. On Sunday's episode of Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, the 72-year-old comedian denied he "deliberately sabotaged" the iconic NBC show after Conan O'Brien took over hosting duties in 2009. "That doesn't work," Leno explained. "It doesn't work that way. You try and do the best you can and it didn't work." Conan O'Brien: I Would Never Do What Jay Leno Did to Me In May 2009, Leno said goodbye to The Tonight Show and began hosting The Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m. on NBC. However, when ratings for both shows declined, he returned as host of The Tonight Show in 2010. The switcheroo prompted O'Brien to leave the network, where he'd been employed since 1993, to host Conan on TBS. Leno also defended his decision to stay at NBC rather than move to a different network amid the controversy. "Sometimes the czar you have is better than the one you're going to," he told Maher, 66. "Then you have your old team shooting at you as well. I just figured let's just play this out and see what happens. This all happened fairly quickly." Inside Jay Leno's 'Secret Deal' with NBC to Host The Tonight Show over David Letterman Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images Leno added that at the time he considered joining ABC, the home of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and even called Jimmy Kimmel himself to discuss it. However, he never followed up with him after deciding to stay at NBC. "I suppose I should have called Jimmy and explained to him again, but I didn't," he said. "I don't know why I didn't. I just didn't. I thought he probably would figure it out. But I think maybe he was hurt by that, and I apologized to him for that." Blake Shelton Goes for a Joyride in Elvis Presley's Truck on Jay Leno's Garage Leno left The Tonight Show for good in February 2014, and Jimmy Fallon stepped in as his successor. He now hosts the syndicated game show You Bet Your Life with his former Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks. O'Brien addressed the controversy over Leno returning to The Tonight Show in a 2010 interview with 60 Minutes. "He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know — I know me, I wouldn't have done that," O'Brien said at the time. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday. In the interview, the comedian noted he would not have "surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well — and then … six months later [reclaimed it]. But that's me, you know." O'Brien added that, if he had been in Leno's shoes, he would've "done something else, go someplace else."