Jay Leno reportedly broke several bones in a motorcycle accident last week, only months after he suffered serious burns to his face, chest and hands in a garage fire.
The former Tonight Show host told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was knocked off his motorcycle on Jan. 17. The fall broke Leno’s collarbone and two ribs and cracked both of his kneecaps.
“But I’m OK!” Leno told the outlet. “I’m OK, I’m working. I’m working this weekend.”
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Leno, 72, said the accident occurred when he was working on a vintage vehicle. While test-riding a 1940 Indian motorcycle, Leno said he noticed the smell of leaking gas.
“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,” he said, sharing how he was clotheslined by the wire and knocked off the motorcycle. “So, you know, I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
The garage fire at Leno’s Los Angeles home was also started while the comedian was working on another vintage vehicle, a 1907 White Steam Car, in November 2022. When the car’s fuel line clogged, Leno laid under the vehicle to blow air through the line. He told Today host Hoda Kotb that he got a “face full of gas” and then caught on fire.
He was treated for third-degree burns at Grossman Burn Center in West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles. He remained in care for 10 days.
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Leno said he did not discuss his motorcycle accident publicly because news coverage of his garage fire was so widespread.
“You know, after getting burned up, you get that one for free,” Leno said. “After that, you’re Harrison Ford, crashing airplanes. You just want to keep your head down.”
Despite his injuries, Leno is still performing standup comedy. He is preparing to headline at the Encore Theater in Las Vegas for the first time on March 31. The performance will be his first appearance in Las Vegas since the fire in November.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
