Banged-up host to still honor Stallones on the Strip
We have our first accident reported leading into F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. But the individual involved says he will be able to make his Friday night appearance on the Strip.
We speak of Jay Leno, who was banged up Friday night in a tumble before a show at Palace Theatre in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The longtime “Tonight Show” host suffered an array of bumps and bruises.
The 74-year-old comic was still sporting an eye patch (in the fashion of former column author Norm Clarke) Monday at a charity event in Beverly Hills.
Leno is due to host a splashy charity event Friday night at Wynn Las Vegas, in the teeth of F1 weekend. He’s honoring Sylvester and Jennifer Stallone at the Las Vegas debut of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS gala.
Word is Leno is still fulfilling his role as the event’s celeb host. Diana Ross the night’s headliner.
The Stallones are receiving the organization’s Award of Inspiration. AmfAR was founded in 1985, raising more than $900 million in the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education and advocacy. Previous recipients of the award include Richard Gere, Ava DuVernay, Cher, Miley Cyrus and Charlize Theron.
Leno headlined a show at Yaamava’ Theater near San Bernardino, California, on Saturday. He is booked at Edgewater Pavilion in Laughlin on Nov. 30.
Announced Friday, Leno is also in rotation for the updated “Aces of Comedy” series, which is moving to David Copperfield Theater at MGM Grand next year (tickets for all shows are on sale at Ticketmaster.com). “Aces” ran for more than a decade at The Mirage Theater.
Leno makes his “Aces” return Feb. 22. Howie Mandel and Arsenio Hall relaunch the series Jan. 17-18. Ray Romano and Tim Allen are also stars in “Aces.” The shows take over the theater when Copperfield is on break.
Early last year, Leno crashed his motorcycle, suffering a broken collarbone, two broken ribs and two fractured kneecaps. Two months before earlier, the “Jay Leno’s Garage” creator suffered second- and third-degree burns while working on an an antique car in his Burbank garage.
The comedian joked to TMZ, “The great thing about this age is you don’t learn by your mistakes. You keep doing the same stupid thing.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.