Conan staff severance deals a sticking point with NBC

The sticking point in Conan O'Brien's exit negotiations with NBC may involve his TV staff, not Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, The Associated Press reports.

A person close to the talks said Tuesday that O'Brien is intent on guaranteeing severance deals for his "Tonight Show" staff and crew and he is dug in on that point.

NBC fired back in a statement, saying "it was Conan's decision to leave NBC that resulted in nearly 200 of his staffers being out of work. We have already agreed to pay millions of dollars to compensate every one of them. This latest posturing is nothing more than a PR ploy."

A spokesman for O'Brien declined to comment.

The proposed deal could pay more than $30 million to O'Brien to leave NBC and "Tonight," allowing Jay Leno to move back to late night.