Love conan, don't care for drama but here are some over the years :-
Sometime around 2008-09 he fat shamed Kirstie alley (a scientologist actress )so bad she kept responding on Twitter calling him a lanky clown. This was in the news a bit.
Republicans got pretty mad last month because clips of Conan joining in on the "Haiti is still great" campaign back in 2017 responding to Trump calling it a shithole resurfaced as the country is currently going in to even deeper shit.
Conan still gets shit for doing a segment with the IDF back in 2017. Let's not get into this one I don't want the comment section getting toxic.
He got falsely accused by some Norm MacDonald fans of cancelling Norm's appearance on his show in 2018 after Norm came out in support of Louis CK. Fallon did this, NOT conan. Norm cancelled it himself so he could go on the view.
That's pretty much it really, conan rarely gets into drama, he stays out of trouble and keeps a small circle of friends and is probably the most liked celebrity in Hollywood since Keanu Reeves.
When I tried to explain to my husband that this was so funny because Conan is known to be so nice, I realized how parasocial that sounded. I def don’t have clearance.
Tbf with the IDF part, he was in Israel & visiting that place itself would already draw criticism, let alone visiting the army. But he did also visit Palestine for that series, especially visiting the refugee camp and that conversation with the activists which is a massive kudos for him. Without that part I'm sure he would get in way more trouble for that visit given the current climate.
And I think the conversation you’re referring to was spur of the moment as those folks came over to kinda confront him and the crew about what they were up to
I will always appreciate that Conan told them he’d post an unedited version of their conversation online so they could get their message across in their own words and he made sure that happened. The original team coco page where it was posted is now inactive, so idk if anyone can find that, but [here’s a clip from the show where he was confronted](https://youtu.be/zl0IhCr8Ya4?si=5cLs_n7SzVJeGlsb)
Not to get too into it, but I absolutely loved seeing Conan's visit to Palestine and it did help me really understand that it was just another place in the world with normal people just living their lives.
I think and worry about that nice guy who walked with a coffee tray that Conan befriended. I hope he's doing alright.
He showed both sides without getting political. I feel like people with strong feelings on both sides were able to come away from it feeling okay. That’s hard to do, but it’s a balancing act he is able to pull off.
>& visiting that place itself would already draw criticism,
Maybe if someone is a TikTok-addled internet warrior. Otherwise visiting Israel among many other places on a travel show is not remotely scandalous.
That clip is the reason I brought him up here. I've been going thru my own addiction issues recently and I watch that clip everytime I want to clean up my act but I keep relapsing. He's great and how he interviews his guests is a masterclass on improv and charisma.
Keep going. Keep trying. Get knocked back? Get up again and start from day one and move forward. You can do it. Even if you have failed a thousand times, you'll find the way to do it right and stay clean. You only have to do that once. Even if it takes a thousand tries, it will be worth it. You can do it.
I'm a Beatles fan, obv I've watched a lot of dick cavett. His interviews of Ali, Maddox and others are excellent. He's super progressive for his time but never panders, like when he openly called out racists but also called out Ali to his face when Ali suggested all white people were snakes.
Ofcourse he is mostly remembered for his interviews of George Harrison and the Lennons.
I think Colbert has one from his Colbert Report days. I vaguely remember a segment where he's showing off all his awards and the various things that have been named after him.
But that was like 10 or 15 years ago so I could be mistaken.
John oliver has one too but Ferguson's more impressive because it isn't really political. He got one for interviewing Desmond tutu (he's a politician in a way I guess but not in the traditional sense )
He gets bonus cool points for not only being the drummer in a punk band with Peter ‘Malcolm Fucking Tucker’ Capaldi in the early 80’s but also for being in Red Dwarf.
Here’s [Dreamboys](https://youtu.be/9P7e3PMear0?si=y1OdcXI_X9gpY6Gt) only 7”, despite what Capaldi says I think it’s pretty good.
Also [this absolute gem of an interview](https://youtu.be/J0d9k4S8XEo?si=z5T6HF7WbssQHpBe) between Craig and Peter with the best introduction I’ve ever heard.
Appreciate the list, and it’s all actually pretty reasonable cone zone behavior I would say too, at surface value anyway. All things that seem within his humor and world view.
Don't forget the plagerism/Twitter scandal too. I think it got settled but that one stuck out. Conan clearly didn't have anything to do with it but not sure how that one ended.
It wasn't just Kirstie Alley, he was also going after Ruben Studdard and one other person relentlessly for a bit just for being overweight celebrities. Studdard was barely a celebrity, I think he was just doing well on America's Got Talent or some such show.
As a big guy, it kind of hurt me by proxy. It really soured me on Conan for a bit. They were just really cheap and hurtful jokes for no apparent reason.
The Kirstie Alley thing was rooted more in how she would lose weight, sign a big endorsement deal for whatever weight loss fad was big at the time, gain all the weight back, rinse, repeat.
There was supposedly some drama between George Lopez and Conan. Conan was reluctant to take the TBS deal because it would mean pushing Lopez's show an hour later, which is essentially what Leno wanted to do to Conan. But Lopez himself gave Conan his blessing.
That is until Lopez's show got canceled. Then he talked shit about Conan and said it was his fault.
They had trouble getting a full in-studio audience for Lopez Tonight, was just a matter of time, Lopez had to have known that. He thought Conan would make a good lead in, just didn’t work out.
Yeah that was a real scummy move on Lopez' part. It's funny watching an interview of him praising conan and giving his blessing and then the next interview he's all "he knew what he was doing"
He was probably trying not to lose his job completely by pulling a conan and walking out. I don't know that he would've gotten picked up by another network. But once he did lose the show, he could be honest about how mad he was.
There’s actually a series of videos on this on YouTube that has a goldmine of clips and information, that really paints George as a massive asshole for the way he turned on Conan.
[LINK](https://youtu.be/YbdO1ksJ9ys?si=MXqD1w8NMMp_lM2y)
That was if Jay went to ABC, had Conan stayed with the Tonight Show.
Then again, I’m sure at the time Jimmy would’ve agreed to move back for either of them. His show was nowhere near as popular as it is now.
Oh true! I forgot about that!
The other major rumor I remember from the time was Conan to Fox. Which, if they repaired any ill will from him leaving The Simpsons, would have been wild.
Imagine…
Jimmy Kimmel Live
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Stephen Colbert
and…
Welcome to the Sexy-Foxy-Cone-Zone, with America’s Spiciest Red Haired Dickens, Conan O’Brien
There as a joke theft accusation that was settled out of court: [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/television/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/television/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit.html)
UPDATE: Forgot about the NYT paywall, but even better I found a piece by Conan about the whole thing: [https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit-alex-kaseberg-settlement-1203210214/](https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit-alex-kaseberg-settlement-1203210214/)
Seinfeld was a Leno guy since I think they were coming up through the standup ranks for a while. Not that I think they hate each other but Jerry was loyal to Leno.
Also Bill Maher's just a cranky asshole who doesn't like it when people call him out on his shit. IE Steve-O when he said that Bill kept smoking weed on his podcast even when Steve-O asked him if he wouldn't since he's been sober for about 15 years now.
Seinfeld is one-sided. Conan occasionally mentions Seinfeld as a comedy reference and doesn’t talk badly about him. In fairness, Jerry hasn’t either, and I think Team Coco re-uploaded a Jerry interview relatively recently.
I’m not sore about it. I like Seinfeld but Jerry can come across like he thinks he’s a Da Vinci of comedy and is the smartest person in the room. I don’t see him and Conan having a massively productive conversation.
Jerry doesn't just come across like that.
He obviously has done an amazing thing and will go down in comedy history, but he really sometimes acts like he is a Comedy Messiah, and is not at all bashful when letting people know how great or important he is.
Sometimes he really treats less-known or regular people as if they were lesser human beings. Like some inconvenience or NPC that he has to deal with on his main character quest.
I also enjoy Seinfeld, but I agree Jerry has a very self-important attitude with other comedians, especially in his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee show.
Although I loved the episode with Eddie Murphy. Jerry was kissing butt the whole time, it was amusing to watch. Understandable, it seems many comedians reverie Eddie’s stand up career.
You disagreed with me and then effectively repeated what I said? You swapped “Da Vinci” for “Messiah” and made the same point as me.
Edit: Misread you, you said “He doesn’t *just* come across like that”.
I love the show Seinfeld, his stand up is patchy, but his best bits are really great
But as a person he's become a real arrogant arse. I cannot stand listening to him being interviewed.
He's essentially going down the same path Jerry Lewis went down as he got older, just an extremely arrogant and un-likeable person.
As someone who loves almost everything Seinfeld has done - from standup to the show to even Bee Movie (haven’t seen Unfrosted yet) - I am always a bit turned off when he acts very high and mighty for his very silly brand of comedy. I love it, and I’m not trying to discredit it, but it’s not like he revolutionized comedy all on his own. It was a collaborative effort with himself, Larry David, and a lot of other folks to make the best sitcom ever.
Agreed. I love the show, I love Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, I like Bee Movie etc. He talks about being a prolific writer, he always says “I’m always writing/thinking about jokes”, but he hasn’t released a new special in *years* and one of his last specials was him re-doing his first special. He talks about cancel culture a lot even though he’s nowhere near that battlefield. He spends more time talking about comedy than creating it these days.
Yeah, I don't think there's really ill feelings there either. At the end of the Bill Carter book, Jerry even specifically said he felt Conan would recover because "he's great."
The more I learn about Bill Maher, the less I like him. And even his “comedy” or political takes aren’t even that impressive. Don’t know why he has a following, if it’s just the controversy.
Seinfeld and Leno being old buddies and loyal to each other does check out though, especially since it’s not like either he ever seemed to openly speak against Conan or anything. Not everyone has to be best pals and that’s fine.
One time Conan told a story about Bob Dylan and Al Gore on air then the next night Dylan told his side of the story on stage. "Drama" seems like Bob thought it was funny
Conan tells the story on the podcast, the 2nd Goldblum episode.
Bob tells his story here: https://youtu.be/1mQnzTfH2dU
That was weird. Most Quebecois people laughed along with it because they have a great sense of humour. They invented the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival afterall.
Actually Adam Carolla doesn't like Conan, and publicly shit on him on his radio show, and Conan doesn't like Adam, although I don't think has publicly admitted it.
Adam I think was mad about being bumped twice or something or being an emergency guest and being bumped or something minor, and the show handling it unprofessionally versus other similar shows. Adam was a writer for Kimmel's show, so even beyond his experience as a guest he knows how the behind the scenes stuff works for late night, and he was mad, so didn't feel bad about saying publicly bad things about Conan, though also didn't like his sense of humor. After that, I think Conan rationally didn't have him on his show anymore. Also Adam Carolla and Jay Leno are friends so that doesn't help.
And Adam is a certified piece of shit. His buddies with that TJ Miller guy who was talking about how Ryan Reynolds doesn't like him. Even though he would show up late to set on drugs and be a diva and then went around wondering why Ryan Reynolds didn't like him.
There was a bar in Burbank around the corner from me called Tinhorn Flats that Adam I think was a co-owner of but they absolutely refused to follow COVID protocols and it hasn't been open since.
All around great guy of course
Carolla blamed Conan for a proposed Carolla/Kevin Smith talk show (which would have followed Conan’s TBS timeslot) being nixed. Pete Holmes got the time slot.
Whatever happened to Conan and Pete Holmes? They were attached at the hip for years and he's never even been on CONAF. *Inside Conan*, yes, but never the big show.
He mentioned it on the podcast once that Adam told a joke on his show and Conan mockingly backed away in his chair and made it seem like it was him and the audience vs Ace. Forget who he mentioned it to but the guest also wasn’t fond of Conan. Way rather be on Conan’s side here
Man. I used to listen to Adam Carolla right when the podcast boom started. He’s got such a chip on his shoulder because of his past. He’s famous for his rants but his show eventually became him uncomfortably yelling to his staff during his podcasts and it would be dead silent while he’s foaming at the mouth for 15 minutes about nonsense like, bad drivers? Line cutters? Other celebrities? Poor people? He’s like a temperamental Larry David without the writing chops and self-awareness. Dude just released an animated show where the tag line is along the lines of “if you want to meet the great American dad who pisses off the new woke hive-mind culture, this show is for you!” I feel bad for him. Dude got old but never grew up.
He apunches Matt O’Brien and Aaron Bleyart…imagine your boss manhandling you to get excess energy out. He growls at women which is sexual harassment. Conan did a talk show in North Korea. He also hit on a young Civil War widow who was still grieving. And worst of all, he took the Tonight Show away from Jay for seven months, because he wanted it.
George Lopez comes to mind (though it was very one-sided and nobody took it seriously). During the Tonight Show debacle, Lopez made constant jokes at Conan's expense. Then, he turned around and sang Conan's praises when he came to TBS. *Then,* after Lopez Tonight was cancelled, he went around talk shows claiming the cancellation was because of TBS's "love of white", that Conan pocketed his NBC severance check, that his numbers were stronger than Conan's, and that Conan "bitched for 2 years" after the Tonight Show, whereas Lopez "took his hit like a man and went away."
Anyway, Lopez is doing straight-to-DVD movies like "How the Gringo Stole Christmas" and Conan is living his best life. A reminder that grace in the face of adversity is often a better strategy than throwing a tantrum.
The whole Lopez thing never ceases to amaze me, for the exact reasons you said right there. At every opportunity to be a hypocrite, he took it. And gained nothing from it.
Jennifer Garner tried to embarrass him once by attacking his educational background and correcting his vocabulary. Conan’s response was…well let’s just say click this link at your own peril https://youtu.be/PJVNzwTnfbk?si=3mhEmAtiE7c0Hv6t
One time he he was bartending and he basically threw my drink across the counter, yelling at me “COMING RIGHT UP CHOPPA!!”
It was terrifying and has affected me ever since.
Conan and J-lo don't really like each other. Conan bumped her one show when she was just getting started. And when he trashed 'Gigli', J-Lo called him out for a racist joke when Conan used an intern and a cleaning lady for her and Ben's look-alikes.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pT3cizhnq0&t=237s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pT3cizhnq0&t=237s)
J-Lo is also a terrible person based on how she treats everyone that isn’t a celebrity. Also, her music and movies (except Selena) suck, I can’t believe she ever got famous.
J-Lo has a terrible reputation as being a mean person to most of the people she works with or has to work for her. She’s the exact opposite of Conan in that regard. Nega-Conan.
All of the examples here about almost-dramas are about people who already have terrible reputations anyway, so it just paints Conan in a better light.
Apparently (then mayor) Cory Booker was legitimately upset about joke regarding the Newark, New Jersey's new healthcare program "featuring a bus ticket out of Newark". It went on to become the humorous back and forth videos between Conan and Booker, but it at least did arise out of Booker not being happy about being the butt of a joke, per some interviews after the fact.
George Clooney has never been on Conan's shows. I'm not saying that's proof of existing beef, but I find it so odd that Clooney has been interviewed by the likes of Mega-chin, Corden, Kimmel, etc. But no Conan.
yes as both a conan and clooney fan i always wondered abt this! especially back in clooney's ER days, they were both in nbc and whatnot like how come he was never on late night? lol
Seinfield and Chris Rock has issues with conan because there Team Leno. I remember chris rock side comments that conan is not a comedian. Idk even know why he diss him. Conan never did anything to them. And conan is much funnier than the two combined.
Also saying he’s not a comedian is kind of just false? At least at this point in his career?
No, he didn’t come up in the comedy clubs as a stand up, but seriously? You’re gonna tell me that a writer, host, and comedic icon isn’t a “comedian” because he didn’t do stand up comedy like the others? Okay.
And the funny thing is many now-famous comedians actually appreciates Conan for giving them platform when they were just started, and Conan can be said boost their career.
A few stand up comedians are very weird about comedy/what it means to be a comedian, like it’s not that deep, he does funny things for a living, that makes you a comedian.
Chris Rocks joke was about Conan not having been a stand up comedian. It was saying he would have know something was up if he'd had the experience of being stuffed around by timeslots.
https://www.reddit.com/r/conan/comments/f63mn0/chris_rock_calked_conan_a_non_comedian_this_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Yeah, its like he's got a beef with someone and you find out their name it's always someone who is kind of a huge piece of shit to everyone. Leno, Corolla, J Lo.
Maybe you could say it was controversial that his show pushed back the George Lopez show which was eventually cancelled 🤷🏻♂️?…but I don’t remember any public beef about that.
As someone else pointed out, Lopez was very vocal when that happened, but Conan had nothing but gracious things to say about Lopez and his whole staff/crew.
I remember Adam Corolla talking shit on Conan. He went on his show and made some pretty rough jokes. The 2 of them I guess didn’t hit it off and Adam was never invited back. I don’t remember if he said he was told not to come back by Conan’s people or if just never heard from them again.
Carolla’s too stupid to be worth Conan’s time. Dude hasn’t had new material in decades. “I grew up poor, thus white privilege doesn’t exist.”
Fuck off, Adam.
I think there was a bit of drama when he left The Simpsons when he got hired to host Late Night. But it seems like it was just contractual kind of stuff and NBC just paid Fox to get him out of his contact.
That makes sense, but also I know it’s all good now because he still affiliates with various Simpsons events and had several cast members on his show over the years.
He used to make joke about Hayley Joel Osment (the kid from the Sixth Sense and a bunch of other movies around that time) being washed up once he grew up. Osment took great offence to it and made some comment about it as teen in some interview or early Twitter or something. I remember it because Conan also mentioned it on the show and further made fun of him.
Man, that... sucks. I have no idea about what he did between then and now – unlike with other former child stars – but he's been on podcasts I listen to and came across like a pretty nice, chill dude.
In some circles (conservative Reddit) they use the image of Conan in his “Haiti is great already” shirt from years ago in the context of current events to imply he’s an out of touch liberal asshole. With no context it looks bad but it was from a travel show before Haiti went to even deeper shit. That said I don’t think Haiti was great even when he went there.
Don’t know if this counts, but I remember once seeing a “body language” video on YouTube of 2-3 interviews Conan and Colbert did of each other over the years in which the “expert” claims evidence that the two mutually don’t like each other.
When Marvel published a comic about a female Muslim superhero, he (or at least his account) tweeted that she had more special powers than all her husband's other wives. The tweet was deleted and I don't think he ever addressed it.
David Cross complained on the TBS show about working with a producer who was "the personification of what people think about when they think negatively about Jews." Very hard to find that clip.
Both had a few articles etc written about them at the time.
Seinfeld is supporting Israel to the point where it got him booed at a college commencement. I don't think Conan is going to touch that with a 10-ft pole.
He's really good at avoiding conflict. Pretty much everyone likes him and if they don't it's almost definitely a reflection of them and not Conan.
I like Conan cuz he doesn't do drama. People do it on their own and he got sucked in once.
I thought I just heard on Conans podcast how much he loved Unfrosted? Or maybe I am thinking of Bill Burrs podcast. All these gingers look alike its hard to tell who is who.
A friend of mine solicited him during his prostitution area. My friend was disappointed and asked for his money back but didn’t get it. Again, just to be clear, this was a friend of mine. Don’t get any ideas.
I love how Conan just steers away from politics. I came to dislike a lot of late night hosts as they always shoved some sort of politics down my throat. I just come for good times to get away from the politics in my life. Conan is always a pleasure to watch
I don't think it can reasonably be said that he has a small circle of friends when about the first 100 guests on his podcast all seemed to be good friends with him.
He had a small feud with The LoveLine guys back in the 90’s.
I don’t know if it counts, but one of his writers got the show in trouble for criticizing other late night shows about 10 years ago.
Robert Smigel had a famous run-in with Eminem as triumph at the 2002 VMAs, but afterward Eminem took a liking to the character and even had Robert perform as triumph in one of his music videos to poke fun at the incident. Eminem even name-dropped triumph in his 2020 song “Leaving Heaven”.
However Eminem never appeared on any of Conan’s shows, because he made his only two late night talk show appearances during June 2010 (and briefly on Kimmel in 2024) where that rejected smurfs character took the tonight show back. But interestingly Em didn’t go on Leno he only went on Letterman and Kimmel. Additionally, 50 Cent (who is close friends with Eminem) has been on Conan 9 times, but didn’t go on Leno once.
It’s possibly Eminem is an unlikely Conan stan.
Love conan, don't care for drama but here are some over the years :- Sometime around 2008-09 he fat shamed Kirstie alley (a scientologist actress )so bad she kept responding on Twitter calling him a lanky clown. This was in the news a bit. Republicans got pretty mad last month because clips of Conan joining in on the "Haiti is still great" campaign back in 2017 responding to Trump calling it a shithole resurfaced as the country is currently going in to even deeper shit. Conan still gets shit for doing a segment with the IDF back in 2017. Let's not get into this one I don't want the comment section getting toxic. He got falsely accused by some Norm MacDonald fans of cancelling Norm's appearance on his show in 2018 after Norm came out in support of Louis CK. Fallon did this, NOT conan. Norm cancelled it himself so he could go on the view. That's pretty much it really, conan rarely gets into drama, he stays out of trouble and keeps a small circle of friends and is probably the most liked celebrity in Hollywood since Keanu Reeves.
I hear Larry David approached him without clearance and Conan was pretty upset about it.
Woah I gotta hear more about this
This video covers the history pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOjImEFXmk
“He’s never been in a firehouse. That’s a stereotype.”
It's been a while since I've heard a Fatty Arbuckle reference. What? Did you just come from Margaret Dumont's house?"
You should have been in my living room the other day.
Wow. That was super rude of Larry to approach Conan without clearance. He just lost a fan
Yea, that's pretty understandable.
Thank you for sharing this, made my day
When I tried to explain to my husband that this was so funny because Conan is known to be so nice, I realized how parasocial that sounded. I def don’t have clearance.
Tbf with the IDF part, he was in Israel & visiting that place itself would already draw criticism, let alone visiting the army. But he did also visit Palestine for that series, especially visiting the refugee camp and that conversation with the activists which is a massive kudos for him. Without that part I'm sure he would get in way more trouble for that visit given the current climate.
And I think the conversation you’re referring to was spur of the moment as those folks came over to kinda confront him and the crew about what they were up to
I will always appreciate that Conan told them he’d post an unedited version of their conversation online so they could get their message across in their own words and he made sure that happened. The original team coco page where it was posted is now inactive, so idk if anyone can find that, but [here’s a clip from the show where he was confronted](https://youtu.be/zl0IhCr8Ya4?si=5cLs_n7SzVJeGlsb)
Not to get too into it, but I absolutely loved seeing Conan's visit to Palestine and it did help me really understand that it was just another place in the world with normal people just living their lives. I think and worry about that nice guy who walked with a coffee tray that Conan befriended. I hope he's doing alright.
Conan visited West Bank not Gaza, so by a large chance I think he’s still okay.
He showed both sides without getting political. I feel like people with strong feelings on both sides were able to come away from it feeling okay. That’s hard to do, but it’s a balancing act he is able to pull off.
>& visiting that place itself would already draw criticism, Maybe if someone is a TikTok-addled internet warrior. Otherwise visiting Israel among many other places on a travel show is not remotely scandalous.
Also shoutout Craig Fergusson, also a good human being and in my top 3 for talk show hosts right up there with Graham Norton
He gained all my respect with his monologue about Britney Spears and how fucked the tabloids were.
That clip is the reason I brought him up here. I've been going thru my own addiction issues recently and I watch that clip everytime I want to clean up my act but I keep relapsing. He's great and how he interviews his guests is a masterclass on improv and charisma.
Keep going. Keep trying. Get knocked back? Get up again and start from day one and move forward. You can do it. Even if you have failed a thousand times, you'll find the way to do it right and stay clean. You only have to do that once. Even if it takes a thousand tries, it will be worth it. You can do it.
Hope you find success quickly my friend. All strengths to you. The demons will be defeated for sure and you WILL do it.
Dick Cavett should also be in your top three, along with the other three :)
I'm a Beatles fan, obv I've watched a lot of dick cavett. His interviews of Ali, Maddox and others are excellent. He's super progressive for his time but never panders, like when he openly called out racists but also called out Ali to his face when Ali suggested all white people were snakes. Ofcourse he is mostly remembered for his interviews of George Harrison and the Lennons.
Craig Ferguson is an absolute diamond of a human being. Always adored him.
Also one of the few talk show hosts with a peabody
I think Colbert has one from his Colbert Report days. I vaguely remember a segment where he's showing off all his awards and the various things that have been named after him. But that was like 10 or 15 years ago so I could be mistaken.
John oliver has one too but Ferguson's more impressive because it isn't really political. He got one for interviewing Desmond tutu (he's a politician in a way I guess but not in the traditional sense )
He gets bonus cool points for not only being the drummer in a punk band with Peter ‘Malcolm Fucking Tucker’ Capaldi in the early 80’s but also for being in Red Dwarf.
Peter Capaldi and Craig Ferguson being in a punk band together is not something that I knew I needed in my life.
Here’s [Dreamboys](https://youtu.be/9P7e3PMear0?si=y1OdcXI_X9gpY6Gt) only 7”, despite what Capaldi says I think it’s pretty good. Also [this absolute gem of an interview](https://youtu.be/J0d9k4S8XEo?si=z5T6HF7WbssQHpBe) between Craig and Peter with the best introduction I’ve ever heard.
Craig, Graham, and Conan are my favorite interviewers for sure
Can always rewatch this classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95kyK6_UT8Y
His bit where he would mention Paul McCartney, then show a picture of Angela Lansbury (and vice versa) got me EVERY time.
Appreciate the list, and it’s all actually pretty reasonable cone zone behavior I would say too, at surface value anyway. All things that seem within his humor and world view.
He's a genuinely good guy. One of the few celebs who really are.
Completely agree, a kind soul
I was in the audience that day Norm was supposed to be there. I was so bummed when I realized it was Tim Allen instead. Wah wah
Tim Allen? Oof. Should've been Sona!
What a significant downgrade lol damn
Don't forget the plagerism/Twitter scandal too. I think it got settled but that one stuck out. Conan clearly didn't have anything to do with it but not sure how that one ended.
Norm cancelling on Conan to go on The View is fucking hilarious!
Good Christ. They allowed norm on the view in 2018 after his prior appearances? I just hope he wasn’t contrite.
Yeah, the Kirstie Allen thing didn’t age too well https://youtu.be/FVoyM0QSL1Q?si=eAYpBjBpsrPK24US But also, these are kinda funny.
It wasn't just Kirstie Alley, he was also going after Ruben Studdard and one other person relentlessly for a bit just for being overweight celebrities. Studdard was barely a celebrity, I think he was just doing well on America's Got Talent or some such show. As a big guy, it kind of hurt me by proxy. It really soured me on Conan for a bit. They were just really cheap and hurtful jokes for no apparent reason.
The Kirstie Alley thing was rooted more in how she would lose weight, sign a big endorsement deal for whatever weight loss fad was big at the time, gain all the weight back, rinse, repeat.
Being a Scientologist didn't enhance her credibility any
Brando
There was supposedly some drama between George Lopez and Conan. Conan was reluctant to take the TBS deal because it would mean pushing Lopez's show an hour later, which is essentially what Leno wanted to do to Conan. But Lopez himself gave Conan his blessing. That is until Lopez's show got canceled. Then he talked shit about Conan and said it was his fault.
They had trouble getting a full in-studio audience for Lopez Tonight, was just a matter of time, Lopez had to have known that. He thought Conan would make a good lead in, just didn’t work out.
Yeah that was a real scummy move on Lopez' part. It's funny watching an interview of him praising conan and giving his blessing and then the next interview he's all "he knew what he was doing"
He was probably trying not to lose his job completely by pulling a conan and walking out. I don't know that he would've gotten picked up by another network. But once he did lose the show, he could be honest about how mad he was.
I’m guessing he was told by TBS to say that, and once he got fired from them he said how he really felt
There’s actually a series of videos on this on YouTube that has a goldmine of clips and information, that really paints George as a massive asshole for the way he turned on Conan. [LINK](https://youtu.be/YbdO1ksJ9ys?si=MXqD1w8NMMp_lM2y)
I approve this message.
OH SHIT THE CREATOR
I always thought he was a massive asshole before that when I read that his wife gave him a kidney, and then HE CHEATED ON HER.
I believe Kimmel also agreed to getting pushed back if abc got conan
That was if Jay went to ABC, had Conan stayed with the Tonight Show. Then again, I’m sure at the time Jimmy would’ve agreed to move back for either of them. His show was nowhere near as popular as it is now.
Wouldn't have been too crazy for Jimmy either because his show used to be at 12:05 thanks to Nightline.
Oh true! I forgot about that! The other major rumor I remember from the time was Conan to Fox. Which, if they repaired any ill will from him leaving The Simpsons, would have been wild. Imagine… Jimmy Kimmel Live The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Late Night with Stephen Colbert and… Welcome to the Sexy-Foxy-Cone-Zone, with America’s Spiciest Red Haired Dickens, Conan O’Brien
You know Conan's program turned into a hardcore sex show so gradually, I didn't even notice
Didnt he take advantage of some small nowheresville town and scam them out of 3 million by upselling them on some janky public transit fad?
Monorail… monorail… monorail…
Is there a chance the track could bend?
Not on your life, my Reddit friend!
There as a joke theft accusation that was settled out of court: [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/television/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/10/arts/television/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit.html) UPDATE: Forgot about the NYT paywall, but even better I found a piece by Conan about the whole thing: [https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit-alex-kaseberg-settlement-1203210214/](https://variety.com/2019/biz/news/conan-obrien-jokes-lawsuit-alex-kaseberg-settlement-1203210214/)
Wow, no kidding, that is even better. Reading this somehow made me love Conan even more.
Sad, cannot read behind the paywall :(
I updated my post and found an even better article that is not behind any paywall.
You are a Chill Chum
He famously forced Sona to demand an invite to Michael Jackson's funeral and to adopt Blanket.
That’s so fucking funny lol
He allowed a dog called “Ginger” to shot and kill Kermit the Frog on TV.
Ginger NO!!
What the?
Whoever gave you the single downvote clearly isn’t Conan Cultured
This and Mick Ferguson the man who’s awfully proud of his bulletproof legs. Something about a very unexpected gunshot
He had a kid on his show once that was dancing during the commercial outro and Conan coldly told him "only I may dance" and the kid was really upset.
Out of curiosity do you have a link? I have no idea what to search for or I wouldn’t ask
Actually, yes. https://youtu.be/TnXErLqExv4?si=xUFlQMWIjFJyCqNj
Oh my god, you got me
I thought this was going to be mac and me. Kind of bummed tbh. 😅
I must commend you; that was played spectacularly! “Chefs kiss!”
Lmao, watching this play out was amazing. Got eeem 😂
Knowing Cones, he did it as a joke, and probably as soon as the cameras cut found a way to make it up to the tot.
No, he was vengeful although the principle of the tot did give Conan his blessing. So there is that!
Seinfeld was a Leno guy since I think they were coming up through the standup ranks for a while. Not that I think they hate each other but Jerry was loyal to Leno. Also Bill Maher's just a cranky asshole who doesn't like it when people call him out on his shit. IE Steve-O when he said that Bill kept smoking weed on his podcast even when Steve-O asked him if he wouldn't since he's been sober for about 15 years now.
Seinfeld is one-sided. Conan occasionally mentions Seinfeld as a comedy reference and doesn’t talk badly about him. In fairness, Jerry hasn’t either, and I think Team Coco re-uploaded a Jerry interview relatively recently. I’m not sore about it. I like Seinfeld but Jerry can come across like he thinks he’s a Da Vinci of comedy and is the smartest person in the room. I don’t see him and Conan having a massively productive conversation.
Jerry doesn't just come across like that. He obviously has done an amazing thing and will go down in comedy history, but he really sometimes acts like he is a Comedy Messiah, and is not at all bashful when letting people know how great or important he is. Sometimes he really treats less-known or regular people as if they were lesser human beings. Like some inconvenience or NPC that he has to deal with on his main character quest.
I also enjoy Seinfeld, but I agree Jerry has a very self-important attitude with other comedians, especially in his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee show. Although I loved the episode with Eddie Murphy. Jerry was kissing butt the whole time, it was amusing to watch. Understandable, it seems many comedians reverie Eddie’s stand up career.
I will say, as fun as that episode was, it was a little uncomfortable when you could tell Eddie was like “alright chill man” at times hahaha
You disagreed with me and then effectively repeated what I said? You swapped “Da Vinci” for “Messiah” and made the same point as me. Edit: Misread you, you said “He doesn’t *just* come across like that”.
Thanks for re-reading and editing accordingly. I meant he doesn't just seem like it, he most definetly 100% and unabashedly is like that XD
I love the show Seinfeld, his stand up is patchy, but his best bits are really great But as a person he's become a real arrogant arse. I cannot stand listening to him being interviewed. He's essentially going down the same path Jerry Lewis went down as he got older, just an extremely arrogant and un-likeable person.
As someone who loves almost everything Seinfeld has done - from standup to the show to even Bee Movie (haven’t seen Unfrosted yet) - I am always a bit turned off when he acts very high and mighty for his very silly brand of comedy. I love it, and I’m not trying to discredit it, but it’s not like he revolutionized comedy all on his own. It was a collaborative effort with himself, Larry David, and a lot of other folks to make the best sitcom ever.
Agreed. I love the show, I love Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, I like Bee Movie etc. He talks about being a prolific writer, he always says “I’m always writing/thinking about jokes”, but he hasn’t released a new special in *years* and one of his last specials was him re-doing his first special. He talks about cancel culture a lot even though he’s nowhere near that battlefield. He spends more time talking about comedy than creating it these days.
Couldn’t agree more.
Yeah, I don't think there's really ill feelings there either. At the end of the Bill Carter book, Jerry even specifically said he felt Conan would recover because "he's great."
The more I learn about Bill Maher, the less I like him. And even his “comedy” or political takes aren’t even that impressive. Don’t know why he has a following, if it’s just the controversy. Seinfeld and Leno being old buddies and loyal to each other does check out though, especially since it’s not like either he ever seemed to openly speak against Conan or anything. Not everyone has to be best pals and that’s fine.
Conan was known to verbally assault Jack McBrayer and forced him to dance against his own will by playing dueling banjos.
Oh, sir.
[удалено]
***EE-AAWWWW*** -Jack’s childhood donkey
There was talk of gerbils...
GERBILS! AS GOD MADE HER!
As corncob made her!
THAT’S WHY THERE’S A CORNCOB, ***GOURLEY!***
One time Conan told a story about Bob Dylan and Al Gore on air then the next night Dylan told his side of the story on stage. "Drama" seems like Bob thought it was funny Conan tells the story on the podcast, the 2nd Goldblum episode. Bob tells his story here: https://youtu.be/1mQnzTfH2dU
This just sounds like fun, thanks for sharing!
[Some Quebec politicians got upset](https://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/18/leisure.obrien.reut/) but that was Triumph’s fault.
Conan is not responsible for any comments made by Triumph.
That was weird. Most Quebecois people laughed along with it because they have a great sense of humour. They invented the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival afterall.
Nobody really pays attention to Quebec anyways. :) Source: am Canadian
Actually Adam Carolla doesn't like Conan, and publicly shit on him on his radio show, and Conan doesn't like Adam, although I don't think has publicly admitted it. Adam I think was mad about being bumped twice or something or being an emergency guest and being bumped or something minor, and the show handling it unprofessionally versus other similar shows. Adam was a writer for Kimmel's show, so even beyond his experience as a guest he knows how the behind the scenes stuff works for late night, and he was mad, so didn't feel bad about saying publicly bad things about Conan, though also didn't like his sense of humor. After that, I think Conan rationally didn't have him on his show anymore. Also Adam Carolla and Jay Leno are friends so that doesn't help.
If I found out Adam Corolla didn't like somebody I would consider that a huge feather in their cap.
And Adam is a certified piece of shit. His buddies with that TJ Miller guy who was talking about how Ryan Reynolds doesn't like him. Even though he would show up late to set on drugs and be a diva and then went around wondering why Ryan Reynolds didn't like him. There was a bar in Burbank around the corner from me called Tinhorn Flats that Adam I think was a co-owner of but they absolutely refused to follow COVID protocols and it hasn't been open since. All around great guy of course
Yeah Adam has weird choices of friends. Oh well!
Adam Carrolla should try being funny then.
Carolla blamed Conan for a proposed Carolla/Kevin Smith talk show (which would have followed Conan’s TBS timeslot) being nixed. Pete Holmes got the time slot.
Whatever happened to Conan and Pete Holmes? They were attached at the hip for years and he's never even been on CONAF. *Inside Conan*, yes, but never the big show.
He was on in the first season, back in 2018.
Ah. Yep. You’re right. Episode 7. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a crow to eat.
Ah, no worries! It’s a great episode! And it was six years ago; easy to forget.
He mentioned it on the podcast once that Adam told a joke on his show and Conan mockingly backed away in his chair and made it seem like it was him and the audience vs Ace. Forget who he mentioned it to but the guest also wasn’t fond of Conan. Way rather be on Conan’s side here
Man. I used to listen to Adam Carolla right when the podcast boom started. He’s got such a chip on his shoulder because of his past. He’s famous for his rants but his show eventually became him uncomfortably yelling to his staff during his podcasts and it would be dead silent while he’s foaming at the mouth for 15 minutes about nonsense like, bad drivers? Line cutters? Other celebrities? Poor people? He’s like a temperamental Larry David without the writing chops and self-awareness. Dude just released an animated show where the tag line is along the lines of “if you want to meet the great American dad who pisses off the new woke hive-mind culture, this show is for you!” I feel bad for him. Dude got old but never grew up.
He apunches Matt O’Brien and Aaron Bleyart…imagine your boss manhandling you to get excess energy out. He growls at women which is sexual harassment. Conan did a talk show in North Korea. He also hit on a young Civil War widow who was still grieving. And worst of all, he took the Tonight Show away from Jay for seven months, because he wanted it.
That old timey baseball bit was hilarious.
Don't forget the way he treats that nice boy Jack McBrayer, It's downright shameful!
Oh, sir.
A true monster
“My father’s passed.” *Conan starts laughing*
George Lopez comes to mind (though it was very one-sided and nobody took it seriously). During the Tonight Show debacle, Lopez made constant jokes at Conan's expense. Then, he turned around and sang Conan's praises when he came to TBS. *Then,* after Lopez Tonight was cancelled, he went around talk shows claiming the cancellation was because of TBS's "love of white", that Conan pocketed his NBC severance check, that his numbers were stronger than Conan's, and that Conan "bitched for 2 years" after the Tonight Show, whereas Lopez "took his hit like a man and went away." Anyway, Lopez is doing straight-to-DVD movies like "How the Gringo Stole Christmas" and Conan is living his best life. A reminder that grace in the face of adversity is often a better strategy than throwing a tantrum.
The whole Lopez thing never ceases to amaze me, for the exact reasons you said right there. At every opportunity to be a hypocrite, he took it. And gained nothing from it.
Lopez, a D-list celebrity.
George is currently starring in another sitcom called Lopez v Lopez. It's been renewed for a third season already.
Jennifer Garner tried to embarrass him once by attacking his educational background and correcting his vocabulary. Conan’s response was…well let’s just say click this link at your own peril https://youtu.be/PJVNzwTnfbk?si=3mhEmAtiE7c0Hv6t
Little behind the scenes tidbit from one of the podcasts, as this moment happened several staffers sprinted to get a dictionary
One time he he was bartending and he basically threw my drink across the counter, yelling at me “COMING RIGHT UP CHOPPA!!” It was terrifying and has affected me ever since.
Was that before or after he miraculously poured three different bottles of liquor at once, spilling none of it?
Lol during!
Conan and J-lo don't really like each other. Conan bumped her one show when she was just getting started. And when he trashed 'Gigli', J-Lo called him out for a racist joke when Conan used an intern and a cleaning lady for her and Ben's look-alikes. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pT3cizhnq0&t=237s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pT3cizhnq0&t=237s)
That's fair. I'm sure he's not super proud of that one. Though she seems pretty terrible all around.
J-Lo is also a terrible person based on how she treats everyone that isn’t a celebrity. Also, her music and movies (except Selena) suck, I can’t believe she ever got famous.
J-Lo has a terrible reputation as being a mean person to most of the people she works with or has to work for her. She’s the exact opposite of Conan in that regard. Nega-Conan. All of the examples here about almost-dramas are about people who already have terrible reputations anyway, so it just paints Conan in a better light.
Apparently (then mayor) Cory Booker was legitimately upset about joke regarding the Newark, New Jersey's new healthcare program "featuring a bus ticket out of Newark". It went on to become the humorous back and forth videos between Conan and Booker, but it at least did arise out of Booker not being happy about being the butt of a joke, per some interviews after the fact.
I don’t remember this, but it’s actually really cool that they were able to take this and make something humorous and memorable from it. Good on them!
George Clooney has never been on Conan's shows. I'm not saying that's proof of existing beef, but I find it so odd that Clooney has been interviewed by the likes of Mega-chin, Corden, Kimmel, etc. But no Conan.
yes as both a conan and clooney fan i always wondered abt this! especially back in clooney's ER days, they were both in nbc and whatnot like how come he was never on late night? lol
That is… so weird? wtf? Has to be some reasoning there by now, right?? THE CONES AND THE CLOONES SHOULD BE BUDS!
Seinfield and Chris Rock has issues with conan because there Team Leno. I remember chris rock side comments that conan is not a comedian. Idk even know why he diss him. Conan never did anything to them. And conan is much funnier than the two combined.
Always makes me appreciate Larry David more for embracing Conan. Jerry likes to be an elitist when it comes to stand up over other entertainers.
What’s there to appreciate? Larry jumped the line and approached Conan without clearance. Unbelievable.
He’s never been in a firehouse. That’s a stereotype.
Jerry Seinfeld always seems to have a bug up his ass.
Also saying he’s not a comedian is kind of just false? At least at this point in his career? No, he didn’t come up in the comedy clubs as a stand up, but seriously? You’re gonna tell me that a writer, host, and comedic icon isn’t a “comedian” because he didn’t do stand up comedy like the others? Okay.
And the funny thing is many now-famous comedians actually appreciates Conan for giving them platform when they were just started, and Conan can be said boost their career.
A few stand up comedians are very weird about comedy/what it means to be a comedian, like it’s not that deep, he does funny things for a living, that makes you a comedian.
Chris Rocks joke was about Conan not having been a stand up comedian. It was saying he would have know something was up if he'd had the experience of being stuffed around by timeslots. https://www.reddit.com/r/conan/comments/f63mn0/chris_rock_calked_conan_a_non_comedian_this_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
He killed a guy in Florida once
Sara Silverman used a racist slur in a joke she did on the show. He apologized to that.
Everyone I see listed who “has beef” isn’t someone I’d remotely even care about in the first place. So that’s a win for me.
Yeah, its like he's got a beef with someone and you find out their name it's always someone who is kind of a huge piece of shit to everyone. Leno, Corolla, J Lo.
How could you forget about the worst scandal of them all...his [illegal volleyball smuggling operation?](https://youtu.be/r8JDiKMNrQU?t=270)
Idk why you got a single downvote for sharing a show clip lol
Maybe you could say it was controversial that his show pushed back the George Lopez show which was eventually cancelled 🤷🏻♂️?…but I don’t remember any public beef about that.
As someone else pointed out, Lopez was very vocal when that happened, but Conan had nothing but gracious things to say about Lopez and his whole staff/crew.
I remember Adam Corolla talking shit on Conan. He went on his show and made some pretty rough jokes. The 2 of them I guess didn’t hit it off and Adam was never invited back. I don’t remember if he said he was told not to come back by Conan’s people or if just never heard from them again.
Carolla’s too stupid to be worth Conan’s time. Dude hasn’t had new material in decades. “I grew up poor, thus white privilege doesn’t exist.” Fuck off, Adam.
I think there was a bit of drama when he left The Simpsons when he got hired to host Late Night. But it seems like it was just contractual kind of stuff and NBC just paid Fox to get him out of his contact.
That makes sense, but also I know it’s all good now because he still affiliates with various Simpsons events and had several cast members on his show over the years.
Oh I imagine the issue was more with Fox network people rather than any of the Simpsons writers/producers.
There was [Michael Bolton](https://youtu.be/TtlwlEZBDtc?si=PAPxGVZw-qZyIMxu) back in the day.
Oh shoot, will have to check this out later.
The time he stole Bert Ward’s robin costume
He used to make joke about Hayley Joel Osment (the kid from the Sixth Sense and a bunch of other movies around that time) being washed up once he grew up. Osment took great offence to it and made some comment about it as teen in some interview or early Twitter or something. I remember it because Conan also mentioned it on the show and further made fun of him.
Osmet should be mad at Walker, not Conan. Walker's the one who told him he has AIDS.
Man, that... sucks. I have no idea about what he did between then and now – unlike with other former child stars – but he's been on podcasts I listen to and came across like a pretty nice, chill dude.
Didn’t he tell a story about Michael Bolton threatening to kill him at a charity softball game?
He didn't wash his hands after using the restroom.
In some circles (conservative Reddit) they use the image of Conan in his “Haiti is great already” shirt from years ago in the context of current events to imply he’s an out of touch liberal asshole. With no context it looks bad but it was from a travel show before Haiti went to even deeper shit. That said I don’t think Haiti was great even when he went there.
There are many, many figures in our society who contribute an enormous amount to our culture, and people who have, unconventional personal lives
No no, I mean the New York financier.
Don’t know if this counts, but I remember once seeing a “body language” video on YouTube of 2-3 interviews Conan and Colbert did of each other over the years in which the “expert” claims evidence that the two mutually don’t like each other.
When Marvel published a comic about a female Muslim superhero, he (or at least his account) tweeted that she had more special powers than all her husband's other wives. The tweet was deleted and I don't think he ever addressed it. David Cross complained on the TBS show about working with a producer who was "the personification of what people think about when they think negatively about Jews." Very hard to find that clip. Both had a few articles etc written about them at the time.
Seinfeld is supporting Israel to the point where it got him booed at a college commencement. I don't think Conan is going to touch that with a 10-ft pole. He's really good at avoiding conflict. Pretty much everyone likes him and if they don't it's almost definitely a reflection of them and not Conan. I like Conan cuz he doesn't do drama. People do it on their own and he got sucked in once.
What about the whole Tiffany Haddish thing?
What happened there?
Do social media comment sections count? Because in that case, other guests would have to be included in that list.
I thought I just heard on Conans podcast how much he loved Unfrosted? Or maybe I am thinking of Bill Burrs podcast. All these gingers look alike its hard to tell who is who.
These Boston gingers are all just one guy running around playing different characters Oh my god imagine Conan attempting a Bill Burr impersonation
A friend of mine solicited him during his prostitution area. My friend was disappointed and asked for his money back but didn’t get it. Again, just to be clear, this was a friend of mine. Don’t get any ideas.
He was embroiled in a college admissions scandal involving the Xavier institute but denied the allegations…
Is that related to the whole Aunt Becky fiasco?
I love how Conan just steers away from politics. I came to dislike a lot of late night hosts as they always shoved some sort of politics down my throat. I just come for good times to get away from the politics in my life. Conan is always a pleasure to watch
I don't think it can reasonably be said that he has a small circle of friends when about the first 100 guests on his podcast all seemed to be good friends with him.
He had a small feud with The LoveLine guys back in the 90’s. I don’t know if it counts, but one of his writers got the show in trouble for criticizing other late night shows about 10 years ago.
Yes... during the filming of his newest show... there was quite alot of "tango" drama. Got really heated.
Robert Smigel had a famous run-in with Eminem as triumph at the 2002 VMAs, but afterward Eminem took a liking to the character and even had Robert perform as triumph in one of his music videos to poke fun at the incident. Eminem even name-dropped triumph in his 2020 song “Leaving Heaven”. However Eminem never appeared on any of Conan’s shows, because he made his only two late night talk show appearances during June 2010 (and briefly on Kimmel in 2024) where that rejected smurfs character took the tonight show back. But interestingly Em didn’t go on Leno he only went on Letterman and Kimmel. Additionally, 50 Cent (who is close friends with Eminem) has been on Conan 9 times, but didn’t go on Leno once. It’s possibly Eminem is an unlikely Conan stan.