To promote her new Netflix stand-up special Time Machine and a bunch of other projects she has in the works, SNL alum Leslie Jones is the subject of a new profile at the New York Times today by Jason Zinoman, in which the veteran stand-up gets candid about her long career. The profile kicks off by revealing that after Louis C.K. made his return to stand-up at the Comedy Cellar in late 2018, Jones was the only comedian to stop performing there entirely. “I am at the age when I will get off the boat and get on another damn boat,†she explained.
While Jones eventually returned to the club, her time away from it was because she just couldn’t support its decision to host C.K., who had admitted that multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against him were true the year before. “I knew girls,†she told the Times, “and they got to walk into the club and see him talking to the owner. That ain’t cool.†She added that, while away from the Cellar, she performed more often at the Comic Strip on the Upper East Side, adding, “They took his picture down. Mine’s up.â€
The profile is filled with other insights from Jones: She wants to host The Tonight Show “really bad†and be “the next Johnny Carson.†After a show in London 15 years ago, Kevin Hart told her “she would never make it big†— but he has since apologized for the remark. Finally, given the overload of online trolling and harassment she received over her role in the last Ghostbusters film, Jones shared some unsurprising thoughts on the new Ghostbusters. “It pissed me off,†she told the Times about how she felt after watching the trailer. “It feels like: They did it wrong and we know you guys were upset about that little girls’ Ghostbusters, so we’re going to do it right now.†She added that she wishes she would have “rocked the boat†— but, given her long departure from the Cellar, it looks like we can expect Jones to do plenty of rocking from now on.
Read the full profile here.