VIDEO: Conan's Sidekick Andy Richter Still Sore At Leno, NBC
Mar. 9 2010, Published 4:41 a.m. ET
Believe it or not, Conan O'Brien's sidekick Andy Richter still has hard feelings for NBC and Jay Leno.
Richter, sitting in for Regis Philbin on Live with Regis & Kelly Tuesday, didn't mince words when asked by Kelly Ripa if he has any hard feelings over the fallout between the network and O’Brien that left him jobless.
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"Ah, yes, yes I do," Richter said. "Why wouldn't I?"
"I've got to be careful, I do. I have children. I still need work," Richter said. "But it's very frustrating, when somebody says -- and especially when they're on videotape -- and say, I'm going to take this No. 1 show and hand it over and hope the next guy makes it the No. 1 show, and then doesn't."
Presumably speaking about Jay Leno, current host of The Tonight Show, Richter said, "he says, ‘I didn't have any choice, they wouldn't let me out of my contract’ -- You know how multi-millionaires are always being forced to do things they don't want to do. I've calmed down about it."
Richter said: "I thought, oh, I'll have time on the 'Tonight Show,' That's as good as it gets. I'm a tenured professor of show business now. I guess I'm really good at getting kicked off the air, cause that's what I've been doing for the last 10 years."
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O'Brien's settlement with NBC enables him to seek employment elsewhere as early as this fall.
Richter hinted that O’Brien & company might embark on a comedy tour for their fans, who are definitely out there: Conan recently started a Twitter account, and has gained more than 600,000 followers on the micro-blogging Web site within weeks.