Conan O’Brien’s 'Hot Ones' segment was so wild, his friends thought he died: “I did have...”
In the 1990s, Conan O'Brien became one of the greatest talk show hosts ever, which made him very rich. One of the reasons for his success was how well he handled chaos. For example, he once had to pull a guest away from the audience, and on another occasion, a guest unexpectedly took off their clothes on his show. In 2024, O'Brien once again proved how well he deals with chaos, and his appearance on 'Hot Ones' went viral. However, some of his friends were worried when they saw him trending online. Decades after O'Brien reshaped late-night TV with his quirky, offbeat humor, 'Hot Ones' carved out a similar niche. Hosted by Sean Evans, the YouTube series challenges celebrities to answer questions while tackling increasingly spicy wings.
On April 11, 2024, 'Hot Ones' released an episode featuring O'Brien. It quickly went viral, and his name trended on social media for hours or even days. Later that month, during an episode of his podcast Conan O'Brien 'Needs a Friend', he revealed that some of his friends thought he had died because he was trending, as per Cracked. “I had a bunch of friends who saw my name all over Twitter and the first assumption is, ‘He’s dead,’” O'Brien said. “I did have people say, ‘Oh my God, I thought, “Finally!”‘” It might seem strange for his friends to assume that, but it actually makes sense. When an older celebrity trends online, many people assume it means they passed away. This happens so often that fans often joke about it whenever a famous person’s name appears in trending topics.
O'Brien trended after his Hot Ones episode thanks to his wild antics on the show. Despite admitting to host Sean Evans that he never eats spicy food, he tackled each wing with more enthusiasm than most guests. However, what truly made the episode go viral was everything else he did. First, he had his writer friend, Jose Arroyo, pose as a clueless doctor and give him a mock examination. Then, he took things to another level—drinking hot sauce straight from the bottle and even rubbing it on his chest while still wearing a shirt. After the episode aired, fans flooded social media with reactions. Many praised O'Brien's performance and shared clips from his past shows. One particularly popular clip featured his hilarious reactions to scenes from Walker, Texas Ranger, reminding everyone why he remains one of the greatest talk show hosts.
All of this online buzz is what caused O'Brien’s name to trend, which led to his friends mistakenly thinking he had died. During the same podcast episode where he discussed this, O'Brien also shared the physical effects of his 'Hot Ones' experience. The spicy wings caused his eyes to become “incredibly runny.” His mouth was in pain, and since he spilled hot sauce on himself, he felt a burning sensation all over his skin. But the worst part came from his wedding ring. “You wash your hands right afterward, but some of the sauce got underneath my wedding ring. I took it off and I was like, ‘Oh right, there’s acid underneath it.’”
While O'Brien is known for exaggerating things for comedy, his reactions to the hot sauce seem genuine. Many other 'Hot Ones' guests have also described experiencing similar effects.
That being said, one of his funniest comments about the pain was clearly a joke, “I found a construction site where they were doing spot welding, and I went there. And I said, ‘Gentleman, if you want, I can weld these girders for you in, I’m guessing, about 15 minutes. You’ll need to avert your eyes because I’ll be dropping my pants.’” Even though this was obviously an exaggeration, it gives a good idea of just how intense the experience was for O'Brien.
