Comedian Jay Leno was hospitalized over the weekend after sustaining serious burns to his face after a fire erupted in his garage.
TMZ reported that Leno, 72, was in his garage in Los Angeles when “one of the cars erupted into flames without warning.”
“I got some serious burns from a gasoline fire,” Leno said in a statement. “I am ok. Just need a week or two to get back on my feet.”
As a result of the accident, Leno had to pull out of a scheduled appearance at the Financial Brand Forum in Las Vegas.
“His family was not able to provide us very many details, but there was a very serious medical emergency that is preventing Jay from traveling,” an email to attendees stated. “All we know is that he is alive, so our prayers go out to him and his family tonight.”
Leno is widely known to be a serious car enthusiast as he owns more than 180 mostly high-end cars and 160 motorcycles in his massive car collection. He also boasts nearly 3.5 million followers on his YouTube channel Jay Leno’s Garage where he reviews the hottest cars on the market and he sells car care products.
The last tweet from Leno appeared on his Jay Leno’s Garage Twitter account and featured a photo of him in his garage standing in front of a couple of Lamborghinis that he owns. “Best caption wins, go!” Leno tweeted.
Best caption wins, go! pic.twitter.com/Sc36b3OJo9
— Jay Leno's Garage (@LenosGarage) November 13, 2022
According to duPont Registry, just a few of the more impressive vehicles that Leno owns include a 427 Shelby Cobra, 2017 Acura NSX (VIN 003), 2011 Audi R8 V10 Spyder, 2009 Aston Martin DBS, 1931 Bentley 8-Litre, 1989 Bentley Turbo R, 1924 Bentley Twin Turbo, 1929 Bentley Speed 6, 1930 Bentley 27-Litre, 1928 Bugatti Type 37A, 1937 Bugatti Alantique, Bugatti Type 51, 2008 Corvette C6RS by Pratt & Miller, 2009 Corvette ZR1 (VIN 001), 1993 Dodge Viper RT/10 (First Black Viper), 2017 Ford GT, 2015 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350-R, 1986 Lamborghini Countach, 2004 Maybach 57, 1994 McLaren F1, 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, 2015 McLaren P1, 2010 Mercedes SLR McLaren, 2005 Porsche Carrera GT, 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost, and 2012 Tesla Model S.
Leno, whose net worth is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, said in an interview last year that his approach toward work was shaped by something that his mother said to him back in the 1970s when he moved to Hollywood to pursue his career, according to CNBC.
“I was trying to impress my mother and I said, ‘You know, Sylvester Stallone just got $10 million for two weeks’ work,’” Leno said. “And she said, ‘Yeah, but what’s he going to do the other 50 weeks? What happens when that job’s out?’”
“Later on, I was literally in that position where I was making a ton of dough doing ‘The Tonight Show,’ but I had it in my head that if I didn’t go out and tell jokes and earn money, it wasn’t real,” he continued. “It was all in the bank somewhere.”
Leno said that his mindset about not getting comfortable “does keep you hungry. And hunger is what it’s all about.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.