Tracy Morgan doesn’t remember anything about the tragic highway accident last June when a Wal-Mart truck smashed into the limo bus carrying him and six other people on the New Jersey Turnpike after a stand-up performance in Delaware.
Morgan, 46, was in a coma for two weeks. When he woke up, his family and his fiancee, Megan Wollover, broke the tragic news to Morgan that his friend, comedy writer James McNair, died in the accident.
Morgan, best known for “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock,” broke down on the “Today” show Monday morning while recalling the events in his first public interview since the crash. He cried as he remembered his friend, whom he called Jimmy Mack.
“When I got home, it really hit me,” an emotional Morgan told Matt Lauer. “And every day I would just watch the accident on YouTube. And one day I came across his funeral on YouTube and I just — I lost it for about a week.”
“A lot of people wouldn’t have wanted to go to YouTube and see that,” Lauer said of the grisly scene. “Why was it important for you to go see that?”
“Because I had to know what happened to my friend,” Morgan replied. “I had to know and I had to pay my respects. And that was my way.”
Morgan, who broke his leg, nose and ribs in the accident, said he has “good days and bad days.” His lawyer, Benedict Morelli, previously said Morgan was close to death and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Morgan confirmed that he has memory trouble and still gets headaches and nosebleeds.
The comedian recalled events over the past year as his family and friends (including Tina Fey, who gave him a shout out at the “Saturday Night Live” 40th anniversary a few months ago) provided emotional support. Another chilling fact: His family usually rides with him for shows, but his fiancee stayed home that night with his baby daughter, who was teething. Morgan thanked the doctors and nurses at the hospital and JFK Medical Center, talking about how he was a “mess” when he came out of the coma, and was grateful to the nurses who told him he would bounce back.
After the accident, there were questions about whether Morgan would ever be able to work or perform comedy again. Lauer asked him as much.
“I love comedy. I love comedy. I’ll never stop loving her. I love comedy and I can’t wait to get back to her. But right now my goal is just to heal and get better,” Morgan said. “Because I’m not 100 percent yet. I’m not. And when I’m there, you’ll know it. I’ll get back to making you laugh. I promise you.”
Morgan’s interview aired a few days after his case against Wal-Mart was settled for an undisclosed amount of money. He sued the retail giant last July; the lawsuit blamed the company for its sleep-deprived truck driver (a police report said the driver hadn’t slept in 24 hours and failed to notice traffic slowing down when he hit the limo bus). Morelli said the CEO of Wal-Mart plans to speak to Morgan personally this week and apologize.
“Bones heal. The loss of my friend will never heal. … I’m happy that Wal-Mart stepped up to the plate in a tremendous way,” Morgan said. “They took full responsibility. … I’m just really happy that they looked out for Jimmy Mack’s family. Cause I know my friend can rest in peace now.”
Morgan got most emotional when talking about his friend, recalling the last time he saw him alive: Jimmy wrote a joke about Donald Sterling that Morgan used in his last stand-up show that night in Delaware. Morgan recalls using the joke, and while the audience laughed, he looked over to the side and saw Jimmy cracking up, too.
“The case is settled, but the pain is always going to be there for Jimmy Mack,” Morgan said, through tears. “He was a close friend of mine. He was a loving man and a warm man. He was a good man. It’s hard for me to see that he’s gone.”