Scandals From The Johnny Carson Show

Carson Can’t Take It

In Richard Little’s 2016 memoir called Little by Little: People I’ve Known and Been, he alleged that Johnny Carson hated him. Richard said that he was banned from the show because Johnny had an extremely thin skin. Basically, Richard said Johnny could dish it but he couldn’t take it. It is likely that Johnny disliked Richard’s impersonations of him.

Johnny was not the only one to dislike Richard for impersonations, however, Paul Lynde also notoriously hated his act. Lawyer Henry Bushkin, who wrote a biography about Johnny, also added that Richard “brought out the worst in Johnny.” Although some also attribute Johnny’s hatred of Richard to Johnny’s alcoholism, as he was a notoriously mean drunk.