Why Burt Reynolds Threw a Drink on Marc Summers During ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’
Sometimes, even celebrities make jokes that go a bit too far. Often, what is funny to one person is hurtful to another, and it is true that some people just don’t think before they speak. There was an incident on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno that may have happened back in 1994, but still didn’t go over very well, and resulted in not only hurt feelings but an altercation that many people didn’t forget for quite a while. Here’s what happened when Burt Reynolds threw a drink at Marc Summers on late-night television.
Reynolds’ divorce from Loni Anderson
According to Nicki Swift, Reynolds was one of the most popular actors of the 1970s and 80s, and he married Anderson after six years of dating. They were the ultimate power couple, but sadly, their marriage was not destined to last. The union crumpled by 1993 and turned into one of the ugliest divorces in Hollywood history. So, what exactly happened?
It wasn’t too long after tying the know that Reynolds began to admit to himself that he had made a mistake by marrying Anderson. It was years later, in an interview with People, that the celebrity said that “I should have known that you don’t marry an actress. It wasn’t lollipops and roses.” Reynolds explained in a memoir that his then-wife “bought everything in triplicate, from everyday dresses to jewelry to china and linen.” He wrote that Anderson said “‘I never wear a dress after it has been photographed. I have to dress like a star.'” According to Reynolds, he gave his wife a credit card with a whopping $45,000 limit and she maxed it out in half an hour. Ouch.
Although the two of them had a family, they eventually split up, saying that their marriage was “irretrievably broken”. His representative made a statement saying “He feels his priorities and hers have become different.” Eventually, Reynolds revealed that lack of intimacy may have also led to the split. The actor said that “I don’t see how she can be in total shock when you have not … if your husband has not touched you in the biblical sense … in almost three years. How can it be a surprise?”
Reynolds threw a drink on Summers during ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’
Although Reynolds and Anderson had a rocky marriage to say the least, it doesn’t mean that he wasn’t going through a rough time during their split. According to Esquire, it was one of the most memorable moments in late-night TV history when, during an episode of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, the host made a joke at the beginning of the show regarding Reynolds’ divorce, which put the actor in a bad mood. Later on, according to BuzzFeed, Summers and Leno were talking when a disgruntled Reynolds told Summers that he couldn’t hear him because his back was turned, then asked “Who told you that you were a neatness freak?” Summers replied by saying “My wife told me that. I’m still married.”
Reynolds reacted by pouring his drink into Summers’ lap and when Summers tried to do the same, the actor was faster, and slapped his hand away.
What was everyone’s reaction?
Things got a bit out of control after that, and Leno couldn’t get everyone to calm down. A producer tried to diffuse the situation by bringing out some pies to make it look like it was a planned fight, but that got out of hand as well.
It was in an incident that Summers remembered for years to come. He looks back at that night and says “This was not planned, it was all real. Jay called me afterward and asked, ‘What’s going on between you and Burt?’ It was like survival of the fittest. I was a comic. You wait your entire life to get on the Tonight Show, I wasn’t going to let this guy f*** it up for me.”
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