carson was a dick
so when johnny carson died recently, everyone had nothing but good things to say about the guy. of course, howard was one of the few voices saying what a dick he was (i think a few other people wrote books about him). jay leno paid a shallow tribute to carson, despite the fact that they hated each other (carson didn’t say a word about leno on his last show, and leno didn’t say anything about carson on his first show).
howard interviewed paul anka today. when anka was a young guy, starting out in the business, he was asked to write the tonight show theme. carson’s people liked it, but insisted on publishing rights to it. that was the only way they’d use it. so he gave it up, and we all know how popular it is now. it makes about $800k/yr in royalties. now, you’d think after carson got his riches, he might say enough is enough, and give the rights back to anka. but nope, he never did, and to this day all the money goes to the carson estate. what a dick.