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Conan O'Brien has left NBC in a reported 45-million-dollar deal, it was confirmed Thursday, ending an ugly public feud surrounding the fate of US television's long-running "The Tonight Show."
NBC Television said in a statement it had reached a settlement with O'Brien and later confirmed that the funnyman's predecessor Jay Leno would return to host the show he helmed for 17 years until he stepped down seven months ago.
"NBC and Conan O'Brien have reached a resolution of the issues surrounding O'Brien's contract to host 'The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien,'" the statement said, adding O'Brien would be free to work elsewhere after September 1.
O'Brien, 46, would make his final appearance on "The Tonight Show" on Friday, while Leno would return as host on March 1, NBC said.
"We're pleased that Jay is returning to host the franchise that he helmed brilliantly and successfully for many years," said Jeff Gaspin, chairman NBC Universal Television Entertainment.
"He is an enormous talent, a consummate professional and one of the hardest-working performers on television."
O'Brien's manager Gavin Polone told the Wall Street Journal his client was satisfied with the deal and hoped to return to work soon.
"In the end, Conan was appreciative of the steps NBC made to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting out of his own pocket," Polone said.
"Now he just wants to get back on the air as quickly as possible."
NBC television will hope the deal -- which will see O'Brien pocket around 32 million dollars with the balance going to his staff -- draws a line under what has been a public relations disaster for the network.
The bitter wrangling went public earlier this month when reports circulated that O'Brien's show was to be given a new 12:05 am scheduling slot to accommodate a new half-hour program hosted by Leno.
It followed NBC's decision to cancel Leno's prime-time show starting at 10 pm after only four months following poor ratings.
However, O'Brien refused to accept the change quietly, accusing NBC in a public letter of attempting to destroy "The Tonight Show" and vowing to quit his long-term deal if the change went ahead.
Many entertainment industry figures have spoken out in support of O'Brien, and during the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday -- broadcast live by NBC -- several celebrities poked fun at the network, with Julia Roberts laughing that company was "in the toilet."
The saga had also become a nightly staple of O'Brien's opening "Tonight Show" monologues, where he repeatedly ridiculed his NBC paymasters, this week telling the audience in Spanish that the network "was run by brainless sons of goats who eat money and crap trouble."
Other talkshow hosts have also found the feud hard to resist, with CBS's David Letterman taking regular potshots at Leno, who quit "The Tonight Show" last year under a long-standing agreement to step aside for O'Brien.
On Wednesday, Leno decided to hit back, referencing Letterman's on-air admission last year he had had sexual affairs with staffers.
"Letterman's been hammerin’ me every night. Oh, going after me," Leno said on his current show, which will end on February 12. "You know the best way to get Letterman to ignore you? Marry him. He will not bother you.'"
