Jerry Seinfeld defends Jimmy Fallon amid 'toxic workplace' allegations

Jerry Seinfeld is standing by Jimmy Fallon amid allegations of his "erratic behaviour" on the set of "The Tonight Show." Staffers accused him of creating a toxic work environment.

The "Seinfeld" star responded to an exposé published by Rolling Stone on Thursday in which a former staffer claimed that he witnessed Fallon belittle an employee. He called the claims "so stupid" and shared his own version of the story.

The 69-year-old comedian told the magazine in a statement: "I remember this moment quite well... I teased Jimmy about a flub, and we all had a fun laugh about how rarely Jimmy is thrown off."

Seinfeld added: "It was not uncomfortable at all. Jimmy and I still occasionally recall it and laugh. Idiotic twisting of events."

In the article, the former employee recounted an "uncomfortable" instance wherein Fallon allegedly scolded a crew member handling the cue cards for messing up in the middle of his interview with Seinfeld. The comedian had to intervene and told Fallon to apologise to the crew member which he did.

The former staffer said: "It was very awkward, and Jerry was like, 'You should apologise to him,' almost trying to make it a joke. It was one of the strangest moments ever and so many people were there, so it's kind of hard to forget."

The report also cited instances of Fallon's alleged "erratic behaviour" which made employees "walk on eggshells" and led to "widespread fear". One former staffer said as quoted by the magazine: "Sometimes we would get nice Jimmy, but that sometimes was not a lot. It was just really, really sad to me that this really talented man created such a horrible environment for the people there."

"The Tonight Show" employees who participated in the expose included production crew members, office staffers and show writers. They called the atmosphere there as "pretty glum" where people get belittled and intimidated by bosses, allegedly including Fallon himself.

Aside from Seinfeld, NBC was also quick to defend the programme without naming its host. A spokesperson for the network told Rolling Stone in a statement: "We are incredibly proud of 'The Tonight Show' and providing a respectful working environment is a top priority. As in any workplace, we have had employees raise issues; those have been investigated and action has been taken where appropriate."

The representative added: "As is always the case, we encourage employees who feel they have experienced or observed behavior inconsistent with our policies to report their concerns so that we may address them accordingly." Fallon has yet to address the accusations against him.