Confused? You might need a map of Michigan to figure this one out. You know, the state with the peninsula shaped like a mitten?
Earlier this week Leno announced on the “Tonight Show" that he would do a free show for Detroit’s unemployed autoworkers.
“One of my favorite places is Detroit. And there are so many out-of-work autoworkers. People work hard their whole lives. The’re saving their money. And I thought, why not go to Detroit and do some shows. Do a free show.”
Leno told the audience he made one phone call to the home of the Detroit Pistons – The Palace of Auburn Hills – to set things rolling.
As the name implies, The Palace isn’t in Detroit. It’s about 30 miles north of the Motor City, in, you guessed it, Auburn Hills. Even though The Palace is considered the Detroit stop for many major tours, it isn’t in Motown.
Then Martha Reeves of Vandellas fame got into the act. She is also a Detroit City councilwoman who also happens to live in the city’s downtown. Reeves questioned why “Jay’s Comedy Stimulus Plan” for Detroit wasn’t being held in a venue within the city limits – Ford Field, for example – where the Detroit Lions football team plays.
Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers agreed, and told Reeves she should call the nighttime talk show host. But Reeves said she didn’t have Leno’s number.
Evidently she found his number; Reeves called Leno Thursday afternoon, according to The Detroit News.
“I told him that is wrong. It's an hour-and-a-half drive from my home. “I told him to take no offense, but Auburn Hills is not Detroit.”
Evidently Leno agreed, and is considering a second free show for Detroit’s unemployed auto workers, in Detroit.
But it all boils down to scheduling. As in if Leno’s “schedule permits.” Meaning if a second show is possible it will be sometime after the April Auburn Hills show.
“It never really dawned on us that people would even consider being resentful that it was outside (Detroit),” said Jeff Bouchard, head of Michigan ad agency Gail & Rice. Bouchard is a longtime friend of Leno’s and is helping him stage the free, Auburn Hills show.
“It's about doing things for people that are in need, and what difference does it make if you lost your job south of Eight Mile or north of Eight Mile? (Leno) doesn't see the differentiation at all, and he doesn't get what the hubbub is all about. Nobody, other than a few people in Detroit, really consider it so territorial.”
Reeves, who earlier this week reportedly said she didn’t know how to get in touch with Leno, now says she and the comedian are “lifelong friends,” and that Leno said her autograph was the first in his collection.
And what’s Leno think about this?
During an interview on Detroit’s news/talker WJR-AM, Leno found humor in the dustup, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“It's really for the whole surrounding area. ... It just kinda makes me laugh. It's that old ‘no good deed goes unpunished.’”
Click here to read The Detroit News article.
Click here to read the Detroit Free Press article.