One of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show producers is reportedly ditching the program amid plunging ratings in hopes of joining a 2020 presidential campaign.
Executive producer Jim Bell, who has a Harvard degree in political science and government, is leaving the late-night show on Thursday and is in talks to join a 2020 Democrat’s campaign, according to Page Six. Bell has pitched himself to several Democratic hopefuls about a role most likely centering on creating media content and messaging, but it is unclear whose campaign may pick him up.
Rumors swirled in May that Bell had clashed with NBC producer Lorne Michaels, but sources told Page Six that “Lorne had absolutely nothing to do with Bell’s departure.”
While he has worked with the network for several years, including for Today, Bell has spent just one year with Fallon’s program, which has continued trail behind other late-night shows such as those of CBS’s Stephen Colbert and ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel in ratings.
“The past year with Jimmy and the terrific team at the show has been a blast,” Bell said in a statement. He added that he has a “strong desire to delve into something new … so I can broaden and deepen my leadership role in the content universe.”
Fallon has used his show to take aim at President Trump on numerous occasions and the pair have traded jabs back and forth.
Over the summer, Fallon indicated he regrets a 2016 interview in which he ruffled the then-presidential candidate’s hair. Trump, in turn, slammed the “whimpering” host and told him to “be a man.” Fallon responded on his show by poking fun at first lady Melania Trump’s anti-bullying campaign and pointing to the president as proof that it hasn’t been effective.
Around the same time, Trump bashed Fallon and his fellow late-night hosts as having “no talent.”
