Jay Leno laughs about wife’s $847 shoes in dementia update

Jay Leno isn’t keen on a pair of bedazzled $847 sneakers he bought. But if they make his wife happy, they make him happy.

The former “Tonight Show” host detailed a recent shopping trip with wife Mavis, who is battling advanced dementia, and said that he tries “to find humor in this situation.”

The “situation” refers to to the philanthropist’s declining cognitive state, which prompted Leno to file for a conservatorship early last year to oversee his wife’s affairs. In providing the latest update on Mavis’ condition, the stand-up comedy legend employed his signature wit.

The “Midas Man” actor said in a recent interview with People that to cheer up his wife one day, he took her shopping at Nordstrom.

Mavis, 78, picked out a pair of bright blue sneakers that were $24. Then Leno encouraged her to pick out another pair. This time she decided on a red-and-white pair that “made her happy.”

“[The cashier says] ‘That’s $24. And the other pair, that’s $847,’” he said. “I go, ‘No, I only had two pairs of sneakers. I thought these were $24.’ [The cashier] goes, ‘Yeah, these are $24. But the other ones were [designer sneakers]. It looked like the guy took a pair of the same sneakers and used a bedazzler on them, and they were $800. I look at my wife and said, ‘You like these?’ I go, ‘Honey, you look great.’”

Despite the eye-popping price tag on the latter pair, Leno said he was glad he could afford the footwear despite the sticker shock. And it gave him a good laugh.

“Just typical … ,” he said. “When you’re dealing with this kind of thing, you find your moments where you can have a laugh and have fun, and my wife really likes them and felt good about it.”

Jay and Mavis Leno have been married for more than 40 years. In January 2024, the “Jay Leno’s Garage” host sought conservatorship of her estate so he could structure a living trust and other estate plans to make sure that Mavis has “managed assets sufficient to provide for her care” should he die before her. Leno’s petition also said Mavis had been “progressively losing capacity and orientation to space and time for several years.”

According to documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court last spring, Mavis Leno’s court-appointed attorney said that during his investigation into Jay Leno’s effort to be a permanent conservator, he learned that Mavis has “major neurocognitive disorders,” cognitive impairment and “sometimes does not know her husband, Jay, nor her date of birth.” It is unclear when Mavis was diagnosed, but the documents said that she was being treated for advanced dementia and a mood disorder.

In late April, Mavis Leno joined her husband at the premiere of the Netflix film “Unfrosted” and said that she feels great: “We have a great time. Forty-four years [married], so we’re doing good.”

A few weeks later, Jay Leno, a two-time Emmy Award winner, said marrying Mavis was his greatest achievement and “the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

“I am part of her legacy and that’s what I’m proudest of,” Leno said at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s 16th Global Women’s Rights Awards Gala, where he presented the inaugural Mavis Leno Award for Global Women’s Rights. The award is dedicated to the philanthropist for her Nobel Prize-nominated work as chair of the nonprofit’s Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls.

Times staff writer Meg James and fellow Malia Mendez contributed to this report.