Conan O'Brien is returning to The Tonight Show in his first appearance since he was fired 14 years ago during feud with Jay Leno

Conan O’Brien is set to make his first appearance on The Tonight Show since his abrupt firing in 2010. 

The 60-year-old comedian will return to the NBC late night show, now hosted by Jimmy Fallon, to promote his upcoming Max series Conan O’Brien Must Go on Tuesday. 

O'Brien had hosted The Tonight Show from June 2009 to January 2010.

His departure, prompted by NBC's move to replace him with Jay Leno despite Leno's earlier handover of the Tonight Show reins to O'Brien, remains one of the most striking turns in late-night television history. 

Following his tenure on The Tonight Show, O'Brien embarked on an 11-season journey as the host of the TBS late-night program Conan, culminating in its finale in 2021, thus concluding his 28-year stint as a late-night talk show host.

Conan O’Brien is set to make his first appearance on The Tonight Show since his abrupt firing in 2010; pictured 2023

The 60-year-old comedian will return to the NBC late night show, now hosted by Jimmy Fallon , to promote his upcoming Max series Conan O’Brien Must Go on Tuesday; pictured with Tom Hanks in January 2010

In a 2022 interview on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, Leno addressed the Tonight Show drama, refuting any allegations of intentionally undermining O'Brien's opportunity on the show. 

'That doesn't work,' Leno explained. 'It doesn't work that way. You try and do the best you can and it didn't work.' 

In May 2009, Leno bid farewell to The Tonight Show and commenced hosting The Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m. on NBC. 

Yet, with declining ratings for both programs, he resumed hosting duties on The Tonight Show in 2010.

During the Maher podcast, Leno stood by his choice to remain at NBC instead of switching to another network amidst the controversy. 

'Sometimes the czar you have is better than the one you're going to,' he told Maher. 'Then you have your old team shooting at you as well. I just figured let's just play this out and see what happens. This all happened fairly quickly.' 

Leno acknowledged considering a move to ABC, the network of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and reached out to Kimmel himself for discussion, but ultimately opted to remain at NBC. 

'I suppose I should have called Jimmy and explained to him again, but I didn't,' Leno said. 

His departure, prompted by NBC's move to replace him with Jay Leno despite Leno's earlier handover of the Tonight Show reins to O'Brien, remains one of the most striking turns in late-night television history; Leno pictured in 2011

O'Brien had hosted The Tonight Show from June 2009 to January 2010; pictured 2010

Following his tenure on The Tonight Show, O'Brien embarked on an 11-season journey as the host of the TBS late-night program Conan, culminating in its finale in 2021, thus concluding his 28-year stint as a late-night talk show host; pictured 2014

'I don't know why I didn't. I just didn't. I thought he probably would figure it out. But I think maybe he was hurt by that, and I apologized to him for that.' 

In February 2014, Leno bid farewell to The Tonight Show, with Jimmy Fallon taking over as his successor. 

O'Brien addressed the controversy in a 2010 interview with 60 Minutes. 

'He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know — I know me, I wouldn't have done that,' O'Brien said at the time.

The former Simpsons writer went on to say that he would not 'surrendered The Tonight Show and handed it over to somebody publicly and wished them well — and then … six months later [reclaimed it]. But that's me, you know.' 

He added that if he were in Leno's position, he would have pursued alternative opportunities elsewhere.

In a statement at the time of his firing, O'Brien said: 'I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it.

'My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of the Tonight Show. 

In a 2022 interview on Bill Maher's Club Random podcast, Leno addressed the Tonight Show drama, refuting any allegations of intentionally undermining O'Brien's opportunity on the show; pictured 2011

O'Brien addressed the controversy in a 2010 interview with 60 Minutes. 'He went and took that show back and I think in a similar situation, if roles had been reversed, I know — I know me, I wouldn't have done that,' O'Brien said at the time; pictured 2010

In February 2014, Leno bid farewell to The Tonight Show, with Jimmy Fallon taking over as his successor; pictured 2022

'But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction.'

O'Brien initially ventured into late-night television in 1993 with NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, a role he held until 2009. 

His upcoming appearance on Tuesday will signify his first live return to the network’s late-night lineup, following his earlier pre-recorded sketch on The Tonight Show in 2018 alongside Stephen Colbert. 

Additional guests scheduled for next Tuesday's episode feature Nicole Richie and musical guest Benson Boone.