After workers on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” were announced Friday that they were dismissed, host Jay Leno has promised to pay their salaries for at least this week out of his own pocket, reports the Hollywood Reporter.

When NBC laid off about 80 “Tonight Show” staffers Friday, this appeared to come as a shock to the employees, as some told several publications that they had actually received reassurance that their jobs were safe.

Friday however, they were told that they were laid off due to the ongoing writers’ strike and that, should production on the show resume, there were no guarantees they would be re-hired. The staff of Conan O’Brien’s “Late Night” was dismissed Friday as well.

“NBC regretfully informed the people who work on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' and 'Late Night With Conan O'Brien' that their services are not needed at this time due to our inability to continue production of the shows,” NBC said in statement.

There was criticism directed at host Jay Leno, as he did not follow the example of fellow talk show hosts Conan O’Brien and David Letterman, who had both promised that they would pay their staffers’ salaries themselves, should they be laid off.

“Tonight Show” employees that had just learned they were fired told trade paper Variety how dismayed they were that Leno was not behind them on this.

“People are devastated today because we thought that he meant something more than an early Christmas bonus,” one worker told the trade paper Friday. “A lot of people didn't look for other work based on Jay's assurances.”

The host had allegedly assured them that their jobs were safe and that he was on their side and would plead for their cause. Thursday, his assistant told the staff they would receive the Christmas bonus early. Leno's rep has defended the gesture, saying the bonuses were not meant to be considered his final say in the matter. He added the total amounted to $500,000 out of Leno's own pocket, according to media reports.

Over the weekend, Leno eventually joined his NBC colleague, Conan O’Brien, in assuring his staff that he would cover their paychecks, on a week-by-week basis. In the early days of the writers’ strike, Leno expressed his support for them and even showed up on the picket line with donuts and words of encouragement.

The New York Times reports that an NBC spokeswoman, Rebecca Marks, confirmed Sunday, Dec. 2, that Leno had contacted his executive producer, Debbie Vickers, and asked her to tell the staff that he intended to pay their salaries this week.

The Writers Guild of America strike began Nov. 5, the first writers’ strike in nearly two decades. A major issue of contention between writers and film and television producers (represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) is represented by royalty payments stemming from DVDs and new media (i. e. Internet distribution of material). Several television shows have been forced to shut down production as a result.