Video of Jimmy Fallon Mocking Audience Member Resurfaces

Decade-old footage of Jimmy Fallon mocking an audience member during an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon has resurfaced, following allegations the comedian fostered a toxic work environment on his current talk show.

Rolling Stone on Thursday published a bombshell report that featured several unnamed staffers accusing the comedian of "erratic" behavior behind the scenes on the set of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Fallon—who took over from Jay Leno as host of the late-night NBC show in 2014, after five years at the helm of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon—was accused in the article of helping to create a "pretty glum atmosphere" that included intimidation.

Of the 14 former and two current staffers who spoke with Rolling Stone, seven people said that their mental health had been negatively impacted by the purported working atmosphere.

As the allegations spark continued discussion across social media, footage has resurfaced of Fallon ribbing a Late Night audience member, who had joined the star as a teammate during a game of Catchphrase back in June 2013.

In the game, Fallon teamed up with the audience member called David against actor and show guest Neil Patrick Harris and David's wife, Natalie. During the game, each contestant was tasked with giving clues to their teammate in order to guess a popular catchphrase as the clock counted down on them.

At one point, David was seen struggling to get his words out, in both guessing a catchphrase and telling teammate Fallon that he had answered correctly.

"I have a tricky, tricky teammate," said Fallon of David, before proceeding to mimic his teammate stumbling over his words.

"You got it," a smiling David responded, before laughing along with the audience as Fallon impersonated him.

Sharing the clip on X, formerly Twitter, environmental journalist James Crugnale accused Fallon of going "scorched earth" on his teammate.

"In light of recent events, I always wondered what Jimmy Fallon was really like behind the scenes of The Tonight Show after seeing him absolutely go scorched earth on his Catchphrase teammate, a random normie audience member, on an old episode of Late Night," Crugnale captioned the footage on Thursday.

"This kinda made me sad," said one X user in response to the decade-old video. "That audience member was probably just really nervous."

Another X user reacted by saying that while they were "expecting much, much worse" in the video given the tone of Crugnale's caption, the clip "is still weird/bad cause it goes on like 8 seconds too long. But def not 'scorched earth.'"

"This is such an overreaction," commented another viewer of the clip, who added that Fallon "did nothing here."

Hours after its initial bombshell article with allegations against Fallon, Rolling Stone reported that the comedian and The Tonight Show showrunner Chris Miller spoke with employees via a Zoom call on Thursday evening.

Citing two employees who were present at the meeting, the publication reported that Fallon apologized to the team, while also stating that he did not intend to "create that type of atmosphere for the show."

"It's embarrassing and I feel so bad," the employees quoted Fallon as saying. "Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends... I feel so bad I can't even tell you."

The unnamed employees, who described Fallon's apology as feeling "pretty earnest," further said the TV personality told them: "I want the show to be fun, [it] should be inclusive to everybody. It should be the best show."

Another source who was on the call spoke with Deadline, telling the outlet that Fallon described the Tonight Show staff as "the best of the best." Fallon reportedly added: "There are things I've done in the past that are embarrassing but I never mistreated anybody."

Meanwhile, another employee described a completely different working environment in an interview with People. The unnamed staffer described Fallon as "a really, really positive guy" who is "super communicative" with those who work for him.

The employee, who said they have worked on the show for approximately one year, told People it was "disheartening" to see "these old accusations being brought up again."

Without addressing Fallon directly, a spokesperson for NBC defended The Tonight Show, telling Rolling Stone: "We are incredibly proud of The Tonight Show, and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority.

"As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate. As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behavior inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly."

Newsweek reached out to representatives of Fallon and NBC via email for comment.