Carson, according to the PBS bio documentary I watched, was a very mean drunk. When he went out in public and had a few drinks, it was “Jekyll and Hyde.” As a result, he became more and more reclusive, since his bad rep as a mean drunk was alienating friends and turning off his fans.
I just read the Johnny Carson biography by his lawyer-associate Henry Buskin (a Jewish kid) Johnny could be good, very good, very nice but had his nasty side for sure and the book has anecdotes on this
You can read it very quickly. Its a good timepiece for that Hollywood era. Johnny was a mega womanizer. Bob Hope is also mentioned to be one. But no date rape drugs used (lol) They did it the old fashioned way...but no rape either just women throwing themselves at them.