Conan's first interview on NBC, Leno, and his departure

New York:

In his first interview since walking away from NBC's "Tonight Show," Conan O'Brien tells "60 Minutes" on Sunday night that he believes he was not given a fair chance to prove he could succeed and that money may have been the reason NBC decided to bring Jay Leno back to late-night television.

Mr. O'Brien granted the interview to the CBS correspondent Steve Kroft under the provision that it could not be broadcast until after May 1, because in his departure agreement with NBC he was prohibited from appearing on television or any other form of media until after that date.

In the interview, Mr. Kroft presses Mr. O'Brien about his view of Mr. Leno's move to return to late-night television, and while he says he cannot get inside Mr. Leno's head, Mr. O'Brien does implicitly criticize his former NBC colleague for reversing his previous position that he was giving up the "Tonight Show."

"If I had surrendered 'The Tonight Show' and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well," Mr., O'Brien says, referring to Mr. Leno's on-the-air hand-off of the show to Mr. O'Brien last May, "and then... six months later. ..." Mr. O'Brien adds, referring to Mr. Leno's willingness to return to the show.

"But that's me, you know," Mr. O'Brien says."Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

Despite the evident disappointment of having to walk away from the "Tonight Show," Mr. O'Brien said that no one should feel sorry for him. "I'm fine; I'm doing great," he tells Mr. Kroft.

Nor does he regret any of the moves or decisions he made. "No, I don't regret anything," Mr. O'Brien says, "not one decision I made."

At times Mr. O'Brien seems to hold back in the interview, particularly when he comments on NBC and Mr. Leno, acknowledging that he signed an agreement that he not disparage either Mr. Leno or network executives.

When asked if he believes that Mr. Leno may have lobbied to regain the show, Mr. O'Brien says simply, "I don't know," but he adds, "We're all adults. We don't take orders from the government."

More tellingly, he says of Mr. Leno's decision to come back to the show: "He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know-- I know me, I wouldn't have done that," Mr. O'Brien says.

Later in the interview, he notes, "I sleep well at night."

When Mr. Kroft suggests that he "got screwed," Mr. O'Brien says, "No, I didn't. I'm fine. It just didn't work out."

But when Mr. Kroft points out that Mr. Leno has said both comics got screwed by NBC's maneuverings, Mr. O'Brien asks, "How did he get screwed?" and notes that Mr. Leno wound up back on "The Tonight Show."

Did that mean he believes Mr. Leno did something less than honorable? Mr. O'Brien hesitates and then says, "I can't answer that."

That non-answer seems to be rooted in the non-disparagement agreement, as Mr. Kroft notes. Jokingly, Mr. O'Brien tells him he has to be aware of that agreement and indeed, "I have one in my wallet."

Neither Mr. Leno, nor the NBC chief executive, Jeff Zucker, has called him since the upheaval, Mr. O'Brien says. Not that he is surprised, he adds, because he would not expect them to sit around and "sing old Irish fight songs -- I don't think they know any."

But he does try to counter one point NBC has made since his departure: that his "Tonight Show" was in line to lose money. Not only does he not believe that, Mr. O'Brien states, "It's really not possible."

Money was a major factor in the decision to oust him from the 11:35 p.m. time slot, Mr. O'Brien says, because Mr. Leno's deal would have taken an enormous payout to resolve, perhaps as much as $150 million -- more than three times what NBC eventually had to pay Mr. O'Brien. So, he says, it should not be surprising that NBC's corporate bosses at General Electric decided which host would "go away."

And he argues that he was "absolutely not" given a fair chance to make the show work, comparing the seven months he had as host to the 18 months it took Mr. Leno before he took over the top spot in the late-night ratings battle against David Letterman.

But Mr. O'Brien emphasizes that "life is too short" to dwell much on what occurred at NBC. For one thing, he says, he is thrilled to be back in front of audiences doing his live stage show around the country. And he says he is pleased that he has made a deal to return to television on the cable channel TBS next fall.

But Mr. O'Brien also says it is too early to tell if his career has been damaged by the events of the past year.

However, citing his Irish Catholic upbringing, Mr. O'Brien tells Mr. Kroft, "I believe things happen for a reason."