According to a report in Rolling Stone, former and current employees of NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” say their workplace has been toxic for years and in ways that are “far outside the boundaries of what’s considered normal in the high-pressure world of late-night TV,” pointing to Fallon’s “erratic behavior” as a factor.

The allegations come amid the ongoing writers strike, which has put “The Tonight Show” and other nighttime talk shows on indefinite pause since May.

The story in Rolling Stone describes an environment at “The Tonight Show” where “it was commonplace to hear people joking about ‘wanting to kill themselves,’ and that they would refer to guests’ dressing rooms in the office as ‘crying rooms’ because that’s where they would go to let out their emotions when they were upset with their alleged mistreatment.”

The magazine says it reached out to 80 past and present employees of the show. While “many of them praised Fallon’s immense talent and comedic gifts, not a single one agreed to speak on the record or had positive things to say about working on ‘The Tonight Show.’ Nor would any of the program’s nine showrunners since 2014 comment about the program’s namesake on the record — they wouldn’t even give statements of support, as is common in the entertainment industry.” Representatives for Fallon did not provide comment for the story, either.

The report’s timing is ironic. Late last month, Fallon and his fellow late-night hosts — Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and John Oliver — launched a limited podcast series for Spotify called “Strike Force Five.”

Kimmel explains the premise in the first episode: “The reason we are doing this is because we are financially supporting members of our staff. There are hundreds of members of our staffs — writers, you name it, everyone who works on a TV show is out of work right now — and so all the money we make from this show goes to them, largely thanks to our presenting sponsors.”

The hosts are conspicuously tight-lipped about the financial details. How much are the sponsors putting in? Is the sum divided up evenly between the five hosts or is it adjusted based on the size of their staff? Who is responsible for ensuring the money gets to the employees? Are the hosts doing the podcast for free or is Spotify paying them on top of whatever is raised from sponsors for their employees — and if so, how much? Is this pure altruism? Or are they also doing this because they are performers who want to — need to — perform for their own ego-driven reasons?

A more pressing question in light of the allegations: What does this mean for “Strike Force Five?” Will the other hosts continue yukking it up with Fallon going forward? These are public figures who have worked to cultivate reputations as decent human beings who are sincerely interested in the people who work for them. They’re funny but they care. How does continuing with Fallon — as if nothing is amiss — not tarnish that? Suddenly the podcast has become a far more complicated proposition, with the staff of each late-night show left to simply look on in horror and hope the sponsor checks clear.

Early in the strike, Fallon’s was the first show to stop paying its staff. (On a recent episode of “Strike Force Five,” Kimmel said that both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck offered to pay two weeks of salary for the employees of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” but Kimmel turned them down, saying it wasn’t their responsibility.) In terms of compensation, Fallon, Colbert and Kimmel are in the neighborhood of $15 million-plus a year, with Meyers and Oliver making somewhere closer to the seven-figure range.

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.

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