Conan O’Brien Bids Farewell To ‘The Tonight Show,’ Thanks Supporters For Making His Goodbye ‘Joyous & Inspirational’

Conan O’Brien has said goodbye to “The Tonight Show.”

Conan and NBC reached an agreement earlier this week for him to step down as host of the late night program after only seven months. But despite the differences between the two parties, Conan thanked the network he called home for two decades.

“There’s been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC and to set the record straight, tonight I’m allowed to say anything I want,” Conan told his audience during his final broadcast. “Between my time at ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘The Late Show’ and my brief run here, on ‘The Tonight Show,’ I’ve worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes, we have our differences right now, yes, we’re going our separate ways, but this company has been my home for most of my adult life and I’m enormously proud of the work we’ve done together,” Conan said. “And I want to thank NBC for making it all possible. I really do.”

Conan called leaving the program, which will go back to its former host, Jay Leno, in the coming days, “the hardest thing I ever had to do,” and called the seat he is vacating, “the best job in the world.”

But while he had thanks for the network he is departing, Conan said he had someone else to thank too – the people who have shown him a tremendous amount of support in recent weeks.

“Finally, I have something to say to our fans, this massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming for me — the rallies, the signs, all the goofy outrageous creativity on the Internet, the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain… Really, here’s what all of you have done — you made a sad situation joyous and inspirational. So to all the people watching, I can never ever thank you enough for the kindness to me,” Conan said, visibly choked up. “I’ll think about it for the rest of my life.”

And he sent a message to the young people watching the program.

“All I ask is one thing… Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism,” he said. “For the record, it’s my least favorite quality. It doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.”

Conan then closed the show with his first ever “Tonight Show” guest Will Ferrell and a host of special friends.