Wayne Newton Accused Johnny Carson Of Ruining Their Friendship And Sparking A Vicious Feud

April 25, 2024

Highlights

Wayne Newton and Johnny Carson had a rift that started as a result of Carson constantly made jokes about him.
Newton confronted Carson and threatened to overcome him up.
Newton blamed Carson for linking him to the Mafia.

Musician Wayne Newton and Johnny Carson are legendary performers. While the previous is absolute best known as a pop singer, and the latter a communicate show host, they had been so charismatic and famous that they transcended these roles and were "celebrities" within the purest sense. It should then come as no marvel that Newton and Carson were friendly. At least, for a while.

What started out as a skilled relationship grew to become personal, and a rift developed between Newton and Carson that lasted until the latter's demise in 2005. The rift included verbal insults, legal motion, and a in particular fraught war of words that just about led to a fistfight. It's all very surprising given the poise of both performers, however that is part of what makes their feud so attention-grabbing...

Johnny Carson's Jokes About Wayne Newton's Masculinity Started Their Feud

Wayne Newton published the foundation of his feud with Johnny Carson throughout a 2007 episode of "Larry King Live." He noted that he had made a number of appearances on "The Tonight Show", the place Carson would regularly chat with his guests, and regarded as the host to be a "friend," but issues took an unexpected flip between them in the Nineteen Seventies.

It used to be throughout this time that the singer turned into a constant target for Carson throughout his nightly monologues.

Carson would continuously poke fun at Newton's look, his peak, and his masculinity. It grew to be so bothersome that the singer was in actuality not sure of whether or not he had not directly slighted Carson previously with out understanding it. Newton spent a 12 months and a part seeking to get involved with the controversy show host, however the jokes persisted. It got so dangerous, in fact, that Newton told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the jokes caught on with other comedians:

“He used to be very offended with me and began jokes on his display, and having other comedians sign up for in with the ones jokes about my lack of manhood, I assume is the easiest way to say it. There was once no rhyme or reason for it. No truth, in reality, at all."

Newton had no interest in repairing his friendship with Carson, who was widely viewed as a generous performer who helped to give several comedians their big break.

He just wanted to make the jokes stop. "I’m going to mention something I’ve never stated on tv, Mr. King," he stated.

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"Johnny Carson was a mean-spirited human being. And there are people that he has hurt that people will never learn about. And for some explanation why, in the future, he decided to show that sort of unfavorable consideration against me. And I refused to have it."

Wayne Newton Confronted Johnny Carson During An NBC Meeting And Threatened To Beat Him Up

Wayne Newton got fed up with trying to contact Johnny Carson through proper channels, so he decided to simply barge in on the talk show host during a meeting with NBC producer Fred de Cordova. Newton asked the producer to leave the room, and, per his recollection on "Larry King Live", threatened to beat Carson up if he didn't stop making jokes at his expense:

"I said to Mr. Carson, I stated, 'I don’t know what good friend of yours I’ve killed. I don’t know what child of yours I’ve harm. I don’t know what food I’ve taken out of your mouth. But these jokes about me will forestall, and they’ll prevent now or I will kick your a*s.'"

Newton said that Carson tried to downplay the confrontation by claiming to be the singer's biggest fan, but it didn't work. "I mentioned, 'Don't give me that," Newton added. "[I stated] 'I am here to immediately out whatever your problem is, and whichever means you wish to have to straighten it out is okay with me.'"

The approach seemed to work, as the jokes ceased, but the adversarial relationship between Newton and Carson did not. Both men were fixtures of the Las Vegas scene throughout their careers, and when the opportunity arose to buy the Aladdin Motel in 1980, Newton came out on top.

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Carson and his partner, Ed Nigro, had their offer turned down in favor of the singer, and as such, rumors began to surface that Newton was involved with the Mafia.

Wayne Newton Blamed Johnny Carson For Linking Him To The Mafia And Later Won A Libel Lawsuit Against NBC

The rumors about Wayne Newton's involvement with the Mafia grew so rampant that he had to publicly denounce them to the Los Angeles Times in 1986. Where did these accusations stem from? The singer is convinced that it was his talk show nemesis, Johnny Carson. He made it clear to Larry King that he felt Carson had the power and the connections to make such a ludicrous theory stick:

"I believe ultimately, the entire thing that advanced afterward, round 1980, the place I used to be accused of fronting for the Mafia and being a member of the Mafia, and then being extorted by means of the Mafia and all of that, all of that emanated from Johnny Carson’s influence."

It was a publicity nightmare for Newton, but the singer ultimately got the last laugh. Well, sort of. He won a $5.2 million libel lawsuit against Carson's network, NBC, which was the largest win against a news organization in a libel trial in Hollywood history, but it was overturned by the federal appeals court in 1990. According to the New York Times, the network's claim that Newton was linked to organized crime "had not been proven be deliberately or recklessly false."

Newton filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992, largely due to the debt he accumulated during the NBC lawsuit. The Journal Record confirmed that the singer was ordered to pay an even bigger sum to the IRS in 2005 (specific details below), the year that Johnny Carson died, but he was able to recover and rebuild his wealth through his lucrative Las Vegas residencies.

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Year	IRS Taxes Owed According to The Journal Record	Status
1992	$341,000	Paid
2005	$1.8 million	Settled

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Newton is currently worth $50 million.

Newton currently holds the title of highest-grossing entertainer in Las Vegas history, and is often referred to as "Mr. Entertainment," a nickname that would've probably rubbed "The King of Late Night" the incorrect way.

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