Jay Leno is responding to Monica Lewinsky’s claims that he went especially hard on her after her affair with Bill Clinton hit the headlines in the ’90s.

Sources close to Jay tell TMZ he didn’t target Monica personally back then — he says she was just an easy punchline and fair game, since she was everywhere in the news at the time.

Addressing Monica’s claims from Tuesday’s “Call Her Daddy” interview with Alex Cooper, sources say Jay wouldn’t call it unfair — she was often the butt of the jokes, but no one was out to get her personally. It’s just that, in comedy, sometimes people get hurt.

That said, our source tells us Jay couldn’t apologize or be sincere about it because, well, that was the news at the time — and that’s what they did in the late-night game.

We’re told Jay gets why Monica’s upset, but reminded us we live in a different time now, and he hasn’t mentioned her name in 30 years — and it’s not something he’d joke about today.

Brianna “Chickenfry” LaPaglia’s been real open about her messy breakup with Zach Bryan — and she’s owning it all, including $12 million he allegedly offered her to keep quiet.

We caught up with the Barstool Sports star at LAX Tuesday, and she made it clear — she’s got no regrets about passing on that multimillion-dollar NDA, calling it “devil’s money” … and telling us she doesn’t need anyone else’s dough.

You have to watch the full video — Brianna was straight-up repulsed by the money talk … saying she doesn’t need that offer because she’s more than capable of making her own bag.

But she’s officially swearing off musicians, hoping that one day she’ll end up with a guy with some more low-key qualities.

Basically, Brianna wants anybody but Zach — they broke up in October after about a year together, and she accused him of emotional abuse and infidelity post-split.

Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland is gearing up for his big music-event comeback — but it looks like he’s still playing with fire … and not exactly going all out to erase the scorch marks of the OG disaster.

Billy was all smiles on “TMZ Live” Wednesday, casually brushing off the fact that he’s asking people to drop thousands of dollars on tickets — without even announcing anyone in the lineup for this summer’s Fyre Fest 2.

You gotta check out the video — ’cause when Charles pointed out that not having artists was a huge problem the first time around, Billy didn’t flinch. Instead, he spun it into a flex, bragging the event this time is already making waves without revealing the roster.

Charles wasn’t buying it … reminding Billy that last time, he literally went to prison for almost 4 years over the same issue. That’s when Billy got a tiny bit serious — saying the big difference this time is there’s an actual festival company running the show.

He then insists there are performers, and they’ll be announced “professionally” in due time, but when we pressed for just one name, or even a hint, his clue was cryptic — saying “she’s” a “current” DJ who’ll be leading a whale shark excursion by day and then hitting the stage at night. Any guesses?

All in all, it’s a pretty bizarre interview. While most would steer clear of something that landed them in major legal trouble, Billy says he’s grateful for a do-over when Fyre Fest 2 goes down in Mexico, from May 30–June 2.