(WJW) – Wearing an eye patch, Jay Leno was bruised but in good spirits when he arrived at a comedy show in Beverly Hills on Monday.
In an interview with TMZ, the former talk show host explained how he fell and hit his head over the weekend, just hours before he was scheduled to take the stage at a separate gig in Highland, California.
“I was staying at a hotel on the hill. I said, ‘Where’s a good place to eat?'” Leno told TMZ. “The restaurant was [at the bottom of the hill], but to get to it. … I didn’t have a car, so I’d have to walk about a mile and a half around.”
Leno said he thought it would be fine to take a shortcut by walking down the hill.
“The hill doesn’t look that steep, about 60 to 70 feet. Let me see if I can go down there,” he said. “I fell down, boom, boom, boom.”
The 74-year-old comedian rolled down the hill and hit his head on a rock, causing bruising and swelling the area around his left eye.
Leno told TMZ he took to the stage and finished the show before heading to the hospital in Los Angeles.
Leno is no stranger to making headlines for injuries. In early 2023, he suffered from broken bones after a motorcycle accident. Just two months before that, Leno was injured by a fire in his Los Angeles garage.
“At this age, you don’t learn from your mistakes,” Leno said to TMZ. “You just keep doing the same stupid things.”
Monday evening, Leno performed at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills as part of the “Comedy for Koby” event.