Tim Allen Has Off-Beat Joke About Friend Jay Leno's Injury
Actor and comedian Tim Allen this week visited his longtime friend and fellow comedian Jay Leno, who suffered severe burns last Saturday while working on one of his cars.
Leno told TMZ that the accident occurred while he was fixing a clogged fuel line on his 1907 White Steam Car in his garage in Burbank, California.
Leno was set on fire after gas sprayed on his face and hands. Leno, who is recovering, said damage was limited by a nearby friend, who was able to put out the fire.
Leno, 72-year-old former host of “The Tonight Show,” has undergone skin-graft surgery, and his recovery has included time in a hyperbaric chamber.
Following Allen’s visit on Thursday at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles, he told photographers with TMZ that although Leno had suffered burns to his face, hands and chest, he is doing well.
“Jay is good,” Allen told the paparazzi, according to Decider. “It’s wonderful because he’s feeling better. … We did some jokes, which is what we do, we commiserated, we just connected as friends. It’s the one thing you can do.”
Allen then added some humor to lighten the mood, saying, “His face looks great. It didn’t look all that good to begin with, so … no, he’s going with a George Clooney look. You’re going to be surprised.”
Then Allen added: “He’s handsome and he’s happy, and the hospital is doing a great job taking care of him.”
Leno is being treated by Dr. Peter Grossman, who told Inside Edition this week that Leno has been walking around the hospital passing out cookies and “cracking jokes.”
Leno suffered “significant burns to his face and hands,” as well as his chest, Grossman said Wednesday, according to Fox News.
Grossman said Leno likely will have visible scars “for the foreseeable future” but hopes that, after the healing process is over, “they will be minimally visible, or maybe not at all,” according to Decider.
Grossman also said this week that Leno has “elements of nerve damage.”
Allen’s visit to his friend comes as he is starring as Scott Calvin in the series “The Santa Clauses,” a reboot of “The Santa Clause” movies.
While Allen expressed his excitement at returning to the role, he said during an interview with Parade that he “forgot how much [he] hated” the Santa costume.
The new series has caused some controversy on Twitter lately after his character in the show complained that “Saying ‘Merry Christmas to all’ has suddenly become problematic,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“saying ‘Merry Christmas to all’ has suddenly become problematic!” — actual dialogue from the new Disney+ Santa Clause series starring Tim Allen
— Scott Weinberg (@scottEmovienerd) November 16, 2022
So far, the first two episodes of the reboot have been released on Disney+.
Many critics took to Twitter to complain about the comments, suggesting that Allen, a conservative comedian, is trying to interject his political beliefs into a kid’s show.
He has to shove his boomer conservative politics down our throats.
— Jordan Hamilton (@BearsFanJordan) November 16, 2022
So Tim Allen got to drag his far-right nonsense into the show? https://t.co/hUOLPiM5ID
— Rory Smith (@rorysmith89) November 16, 2022
Others also suggested that Allen is fueling the “myth” that there is an attack on Christmas.
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