Conan's farewell shot across the bow, videos from 60 Minutes

By April MacIntyre May 3, 2010, 14:42 GMT

Conan from the Tonight Show days, courtesy of NBC

Late-night television comedian Conan O'Brien appeared in his first interview since having to give back his spot on the "Tonight Show" to Jay Leno, interviewed by 60 Minutes Steve Kroft.

On his beard: That first day that I woke up and was no longer the host of The Tonight Show, I remember the first thought I had is I am not shaving. And that was my small victory, you know. Okay, so I lost the Tonight Show, but I’ll show them

On losing Tonight after only six months:

Conan: It just felt like the tone went very quickly from, "Take your time, we understand this is a tough decision," to — [snaps fingers] — you know, "Let's go." And that probably helped me a little bit feel like, "You know what? This environment doesn't feel right and I've been with these people a long time. And I really don't like the way this is going.

And when it started to get toxic and I started to feel that I'm not sure these people even really want me here. Let's just... I can't do it. On Jay claiming that he, too, had been "screwed": How did he get screwed again? [Laughs] Explain that part to me.

I'm sorry. Jay's got The Tonight Show. I have a beard and an inflatable bat. And I'm touring city to city. Who can [laughs] say who won and who lost? I'm laughing because crying would be sad.

On whether he's spoken with Leno: No I do not think I will be hearing from him We should get him in here... He may have Caller ID. He won't pick up.

"It's hard for me to get inside [Jay's] head and argue his side of this whole thing. Here's what I can say. I'm happy with my decision. I sleep well at night. And I hope he's happy with his decision. On whether Leno "acted honorably": I don't think I can answer that.

Conan: I can just tell you maybe how I would have handled it. And I would do it differently. If I had surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well, I would not have come back six months later. But that's me, you know. Everyone's got their own, you know, way of doing things."

On whether he's spoken with Jeff Zucker recently:

Conan: You know at some point I'm sure I’m going to bump into these people. And, you know, I'm not sure we're going to be-- have our arms around each other and drinking beer and singing old Irish fight songs. 'Cause I don't think they know any. But — this is going to sound crazy — I do wish these people well.

Kroft: Jeff Zucker was quoted as saying, “At the end of the day, the viewers voted.” And they didn't like Conan as the host of The Tonight Show.

Conan: Can I take back what I just said? On NBC's claim that Conan's was the first-ever Tonight Show to lose money: I honestly don't see how that's possible. It's really not possible. It isn't possible.

Conan's musical tour