Celebrities React To Conan O'Brien Leaving Late-Night TV
It's the end of an era. The beloved comedian Conan O'Brien is leaving the late-night docket forever, after 28 years of delighting viewers with his wacky humor. O'Brien was a writer for shows like "The Simpsons" and "Saturday Night Live" before launching his own late-night TV show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in the '90s. He eventually went on to host "The Tonight Show" for several months before launching his latest eponymous late-night show "Conan," which recently aired its final episode.
Though fans are devastated about O'Brien's departure from late-night TV, there's still more hilarious content to come from the veteran comedian. His next venture will be a weekly variety show on HBO Max, though specifics about the series have yet to come. HBO's Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys spoke about O'Brien's new show, saying, "Conan's unique brand of energetic, relatable, and at times, absurdist, comedy has charmed late-night audiences for nearly three decades. We can't wait to see what he and the rest of Team Coco will dream up for this brand new, variety format each week" (via WarnerMedia).
Since the last episode of "Conan" aired, fans of O'Brien's have taken to social media to express their appreciation for the prolific host — including other celebrities.
Other late-night TV hosts are showing Conan O'Brien love
O'Brien's made plenty of friends in the late-night talk show industry over the years, and his fellow hosts have shown him plenty of love on social media. Stephen Colbert shared a photo of him and O'Brien to Twitter with the caption "Conan, thank you for 28 wonderful years of late night shows. Now, can I claim the title of 'palest host?'" Jimmy Kimmel also took to Twitter, writing a heartfelt message to O'Brien and his longtime co-host Andy Richter: "Tonight, two men I respect tremendously close a chapter of their brilliant careers. Conan made doing his job the hard way look easy. He & Andy are among the funniest of the many funny people I've met. Congratulations to you & your co-workers on a remarkable achievement."
Jimmy Fallon shared a lighthearted tribute on his Twitter account, writing, "Congratulations @ConanOBrien . One of the funniest brains in comedy. Without you, I wouldn't have a job. Thank you for everything. I've always said – you can't spell HBO without at least one of the letters from CONAN."
"Congratulations to our friend and brother in TBS time slots, @ConanOBrien , on his show finale," Samantha Bee tweeted, sharing a picture of herself and O'Brien sporting similar hairstyles. "Can't you see the resemblance??"
Tons of other comedians are shouting Conan out on social media
Aside from late-night TV hosts, many other comedians have posted tributes to O'Brien. On Instagram, Jack Black posted a photo of himself performing on "Conan" along with the caption: "I love Conan. I don't care who knows it. He's always been game to go all the f***ing way ... In comedy and kindness. What an amazing honor to be on the farewell show. Much love to him and the whole incredible @teamcoco crew and family." Chris Pratt shared a throwback picture on Instagram as well, writing, "This is me on Conan 11 years ago. My first talk show. I think I stood up in the middle of the interview to take my jacket off at one point. He's been a friend and supporter since day one. Much love #teamcoco."
Jonah Hill also penned a touching tribute on Instagram. "Late night with @teamcoco Conan o brien was the first talk show I ever did. [...] Conan was and is my favorite talk show host of all time. He was so kind and generous to me that night and every time after I ever saw him. [...] Thank you Conan for getting me through so many hard times with your brilliance. I can't wait to see what you do next." Bill Burr wrote, "I had so much fun over the years on @teamcoco show. It's the end of a major era in late night history. You were the best!" and Mindy Kaling shared a long, heartfelt Instagram post as well, thanking O'Brien for "[taking] the time to be nice and encouraging to me, even though I was weird and ineffective."
There are tons of other tributes from comedians, including Nick Kroll, Bob Saget, Aubrey Plaza, Lauren Lapkus, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Jeffrey Ross, Kristen Schaal, Billy Eichner, and Sam Morril, to name a few. O'Brien's definitely made an impact in the comedy world, and the shout-outs are concrete proof of that.
Conan is also getting love from dozens of other celebrities and performers
Not only is O'Brien respected by fellow comedians, but he's well regarded by most people in the entertainment industry as a whole. Reese Witherspoon gushed, "Can't say enough kind words about Conan O'Brien" on Instagram, and Jennifer Garner shared a funny clip from one of her appearances on his show.
Sophie Turner looked back on her first time as a guest on "Conan," noting, "It was aaaaalways a joy to go and see @teamcoco . I'm so glad my first talk show interview was on yours! So funny, so professional and truly one of the nicest people in the industry." John Krasinski also shared a throwback to his first time on "Conan" along with the sweet caption: "This is a photo of the first time I was lucky enough to be a guest of the great Conan O'Brien."
Joseph Gordon-Levitt shared a simple and sweet "thank you" on Twitter, and Josh Gad tweeted, "There are few with guaranteed spots in the Comedy Hall of Fame, but @ConanOBrien is one of those folks who has reigned supreme in every single comedic endeavor he has set out to achieve." Steven Yeun shared a hilarious (yet creepy) face-swap video of him and O'Brien goofing off backstage, and Ike Barinholtz tweeted, "Few people have had a bigger impact on comedy than @ConanOBrien and @AndyRichter have. Congratulations to you guys on an amazing run and thanks for having me on all these years."
Musical acts like Jimmy Eat World and The Lumineers also shared shout-outs on their social media pages, as did celebrities like Olivia Wilde, Judd Apatow, Alan Tudyk, John Mayer, Craig Thomas, Jon Cryer, Cheryl Hines, Kyle MacLachlan, and the legendary John Cleese.
One of O'Brien's last touching statements on his show (via People) was a piece of parting advice: "My advice to anyone watching right now – and it's not easy to do, it's not easy to do, but try; try and do what you love with people you love. If you can manage that, it's the definition of heaven on Earth."