An Eminence Grise Speaks Out in Favor of Lord Leno

I read in today’s NY Times about an NBC executive who came to the sudden defense of the chin–also known as Jay Leno–who has been attacked recently by his fellow late-night talk show hosts.

Ebersol says its gutless, and ‘chicken hearted’ for Conan to be mad at Jay, because the reason he’s being cancelled is simply low ratings.

“Ebersol is an eminence grise at the network, with a longstanding relationship with CEO Jeff Zucker.” wrote the Time’s Bill Carter.

I love that term, eminence grise, and found out that it means grey eminence, and originally referred to Francois Leclerc du Tremblay, right hand man of Cardinal Richelieu. Leclerc wore beige robes which in those days people called grey, and had a lot of influence over his eminence the cardinal.

The term refers to a person who is a powerful advisor or decision maker without an official title. Like the president’s wife, or somebody else who speaks unofficially but carries a lot of weight.

Ebersol is head of NBC’s sports department, but once ran entertainment. So he can speak as a powerful behind the scenes guy, maybe a little more candidly since he’s buddies with the big boss.