A Netflix documentary has put Jay Leno back in the spotlight, and Rosie O’Donnell is calling him out for a joke he cracked at a contestant’s expense.
In an Aug. 19 Instagram post, O’Donnell criticized a resurfaced clip from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” calling the former late-night host “mean” for mocking a contestant from “The Biggest Loser.”
The moment, revisited in Netflix’s new docuseries “Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser,” showed Season Eight competitor Tracey Yukich tearfully recalling how Leno once read aloud death threats she had received from viewers as part of a 2009 comedy segment.
“So hurtful. So cruel,” O’Donnell wrote, posting images of Yukich from the documentary alongside her rebuke.
The original episode aired on Nov. 3, 2009, but its impact has lingered.
In the Netflix series, Yukich described how humiliating the experience was, coming on top of the physical and emotional challenges she endured while competing.
A mother of four, she began her season weighing 250 pounds and collapsed during the very first challenge — a 1-mile beach run. Her body gave out as she attempted to sprint across the sand, forcing her to crawl toward the finish before collapsing completely.
Doctors diagnosed her with rhabdomyolysis, a dangerous condition that causes muscle fibers to break down and flood the bloodstream with toxins. She spent more than three weeks in the hospital before resuming the competition, ultimately losing 118 pounds by the season’s end.
“I’m thankful that I was a part of it because it did change my life,” she later told USA Today. “I really meant it when I said that I was the one who changed my life. I was the one that did the work.”
O’Donnell didn’t limit her criticism to Leno. In a separate Instagram post, she also took aim at trainer Bob Harper, a central figure in the series.
Harper admitted in “Fit for TV” that he had little experience with obese clients before joining “The Biggest Loser.”
“I worked with very fit people that were trying to be a size 0 or have a six-pack,” he said. “It was a huge wake-up call for me.”
Some contestants say the wake-up call came at their expense. Season Seven participant Joelle Gwynn alleged that Harper berated her after she failed to last 30 seconds on a treadmill.
“ok now bob harper − can u not say IM SORRY,” O’Donnell wrote in a separate Instagram post. “Seriously – so hurtful – so cruel – come on bob.”
Not every former contestant was critical of Harper. Olivia Ward, who won Season 11, was full of praise and revealed in the Netflix series that she named her first child after him.
The divisive accounts highlight the complicated reputation of “The Biggest Loser,” which ran from 2004 to 2016 and briefly returned in 2020. While many participants lost staggering amounts of weight, critics have long argued the show relied on harsh tactics and exploited its contestants for entertainment.
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