Conan O'Brien Rejects NBC Offer

The NBC late night battle took a new turn Tuesday with Conan O'Brien's rejection of NBC's offer for him to follow Jay Leno. In a lengthy statement, the current "Tonight Show" host said he hoped that NBC could resolve the issue quickly, but stopped short of saying he would leave the network. O'Brien wrote, in part, quote, "if I accept this move I will be knocking the 'Late Night' show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy." He added, quote, "My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction." O'Brien also offered that contrary to numerous reports, he has not entertained any offers to move to another network.