'Tonight Show' staffers accuse Jimmy Fallon of scolding a staffer in front of Jerry Seinfeld, but the actor says the moment wasn't 'uncomfortable'

• Rolling Stone spoke to current and former "Tonight Show" staffers about Jimmy Fallon's behavior on set.
• They said Fallon scolded a crew member so badly that guest Jerry Seinfeld told the host to apologize.
• Seinfeld called the story an "idiotic twisting of events" in a statement after publication.

In an exposé published by Rolling Stone on Thursday, senior entertainment reporter Krystie Lee Yandoli spoke to 16 current and former staffers of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" who say the host's erratic behavior has led to a "toxic workplace."

In one instance, Fallon's behavior towards a staffer was apparently so disrespectful during a taping that the guest on the show that night, Jerry Seinfeld, had to intervene.

Two unnamed employees told Rolling Stone that, in the middle of the show, Fallon scolded a crew member who was in charge of the cue cards as Seinfeld looked on. The sources said the encounter was so uncomfortable that Seinfeld told Fallon to apologize to the staffer, which Fallon did.

"It was very awkward, and Jerry [Seinfeld] was like, 'You should apologize to him,' almost trying to make it a joke," a former employee told the magazine. "It was one of the strangest moments ever and so many people were there, so it's kind of hard to forget."

After the story was published, Seinfeld gave his own recounting of the incident to the magazine.

"This is so stupid," he told Rolling Stone. "I remember this moment quite well… I teased Jimmy about a flub, and we all had a fun laugh about how rarely Jimmy is thrown off. It was not uncomfortable at all. Jimmy and I still occasionally recall it and laugh. Idiotic twisting of events."

Representatives for NBC and Fallon didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Rolling Stone reported that Fallon's erratic behavior has since led to "widespread fear" among the show's staff.

"Sometimes we would get nice Jimmy, but that sometimes was not a lot," one former employee told Rolling Stone. "It was just really, really sad to me that this really talented man created such a horrible environment for the people there."

"Tonight Show" employees who talked to Rolling Stone — who ranged from production crew members to office staffers and show writers — described working there as a "pretty glum atmosphere" where people were reportedly belittled and intimidated by their bosses, including Fallon himself.

Seven former employees said their mental health was impacted by working there and said it was commonplace to step into a guest dressing room before a show taping to let out their emotions, calling them "crying rooms."