For the second time in as many months, famed comedian Jay Leno has suffered injuries in a vehicle-related accident, convincing producers of his successful TV show, “Jay Leno’s Garage,” to call it quits.
In a phone interview with Las Vegas Review-Journal writer John Katsilometes, Leno, 72, shared that on January 17, he suffered several broken bones after he was “clotheslined” by a wire while taking a 1940 Indian motorcycle for a test spin.
“So I turned down a side street and cut through a parking lot,” Leno told Katsilometes, “and unbeknownst to me, some guy had a wire strung across the parking lot but with no flag hanging from it.”
At the time, Leno was looking down because he smelled a possible fuel leak. “So, you know, I didn’t see it until it was too late. It just clotheslined me and — boom! — knocked me off the bike,” Leno added. “The bike kept going, and you know how that works out.”
Back in November, Leno suffered “serious burns” when the fuel line of a 1907 White Steam car in his Los Angeles garage suddenly caught alight. “I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire,” Leno said in a statement immediately following that accident. “I am ok. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet.”
Leno admitted to Katsilometes that he hesitated to share the news about the motorcycle accident because of the media coverage following the garage fire. “You know, after getting burned up, you get that one for free,” he joked. “After that, you’re Harrison Ford, crashing airplanes. You just want to keep your head down.”
“So I’ve got a broken collarbone. I’ve got two broken ribs. I’ve got two cracked kneecaps,” he added.
Though Leno insisted that these latest injuries won’t keep him from eventually resuming his show at Encore Theater at the Wynn in Las Vegas — a gig which has been on hiatus since the November accident — his TV show “Jay Leno’s Garage” has now officially been canceled, CNBC confirmed. “Jay Leno’s Garage” first began airing in 2014 and has featured many fellow car enthusiasts, including actor Tim Allen, comedian Bill Burr, and former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
In late November, Leno also nicked the front tire of a police vehicle when he drove up to the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California, for his first stand-up performance after the garage fire, though neither the police cruiser nor Leno’s Tesla were damaged in the incident, and police confirmed that it was “no big deal.” His show at the Wynn is scheduled to resume in March.
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