Jay Leno Jokes About Accidents at Motorcycle Rally Before Two Die

6:39 AM PDT 10/26/2011 by THR Staff

Comments

Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images

"Don’t drive safe. I wanna see somebody go down. So it’ll be fun," he says before two participants are run over by a big rig on the freeway.

Jay Leno put his foot in his mouth while serving as the grand marshall for the Love Ride motorcycle event in Glendale over the weekend.

'Daily Show with Jon Stewart' Beats Jay Leno' in Q2 Demo Ratings

'Jay Leno Show' announces first week guests

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Tonight Show host said, "Every year, [the organizer] says, ‘Drive safe. I’m gonna say, ‘Don’t drive safe.’ I wanna see somebody go down. So it’ll be fun. I want it to be in front or behind me and see a whole row of bikes go down. ... Get drunk, fall off the road. We’ve all become too damn polite. ... We haven’t had one incident.”

PHOTOS: 10 TV Shows Canceled Faster Than 'The Playboy Club'

Just an hour later, Romarino Zeri, 51, of Los Angeles and Julie Cameron, 38, of Venice were killed when their motorcycle hit a truck on the Golden State Freeway in Pacoima, officials told the Times.

They were ran over by the big rig's rear tires and pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, California Highway Patrol Officer José Barrios told the Glendale News-Press.

PHOTOS: Preview NBC's Fall Key Art for 'Playboy Club,' 'Grimm,' 'Whitney,' More

Reps for NBC-Universal and Leno did not respond to the Times after multiple requests for comments.

One Love Ride participant wrote on Twitter of Leno's comments before the event kicked off, "I wish he had not joked about that, if someone does go down, he is going to feel really bad for his comments."