Jay Leno to Pay Staff Through Christmas

In a meeting yesterday, Jay Leno told his staff he'd continue to pay their salaries through Christmas, Variety reports.

Previously, Mr. Leno had been paying them on a week-by-week basis, which he'll continue to do after the holiday, he reportedly said.

More from Variety:

Funnyman's face-to-face with employees -- most of whom were laid off by NBC last week-- followed a spate of bad PR for Leno, who seemed to hesitate before agreeing to fund his staffer's salaries. Leno told staffers he hadn't made advance arrangements for their salaries because he had been hearing the strike was going to be settled.

Most of the other latenight hosts previously had made plans to ensure their staffers continued drawing some sort of salary. Leno had made such promises at the start of the strike, which made his initial failure to follow through last week puzzling. People familiar with Leno's thinking, however, insist it was all just a communication glitch and noted that none of the staffers came close to missing a paycheck.