Steve Pond's Blog, page 122

Alex Padilla Tears Up Recounting His Kristi Noem Detainment on MSNBC: ‘It’s All BS Coming From Trump’ | Video

California Sen. Alex Padilla appeared on MSNBC’s “The Beat” for his first interview following his forceful removal from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s Los Angeles press conference Thursday, giving correspondents a glimpse behind the viral moment.

Padilla was forcefully removed by FBI agents and other plainclothes officials from the event after attempting to ask Noem a question about the Trump administrations ICE actions in L.A. Video footage shows the senator being pushed out of the room, pinned to the ground and being placed in handcuffs.

NBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff pressed the senator on what made him particularly emotional speaking with the press pool outside after the incident. The Padilla came from a family of day laborers in the San Fernando Valley, and said this administration’s target on immigrants, especially in L.A., feels personal.

“I understand their plight. I understand their struggle. I understand their sacrifice to just find the American dream, a good opportunity, maybe a good job, the ability to raise a family, and have the next generation have it a little bit better than you did,” Padilla told MSNBC with tears in his eyes.

“All the talk about immigration, you know, the — the misinformation, disinformation about, you know, invasions and insurrections, it’s all B.S. coming from Trump.”

Soboroff noted that the senator was raised by a father, who was a short order cook, and a mother, who was a housekeeper. After studying at MIT, Padilla returned to his hometown to rise the ranks in the public sector and serve his community. He told MSNBC that the Trump administration’s targeting of immigrants is misguided.

“If all they were going to do is target violent, dangerous criminals, true threats to our national security, that’d be one thing. Nobody has a disagreement there,” he said. “What’s happening in practice is so many — yes, undocumented — immigrants, but who are otherwise law-abiding, peaceful and hardworking, to think this administration changed policy for federal agents to enter schools, houses of worship, let alone workplaces? If immigrants are that bad, why is that where you’re looking for them?”

The senator also responded to Noem’s claims that he “lunged” at her during the press conference.

“That’s ridiculous. It’s a lie, but par for the course for this administration, right?” he said.

Padilla was down the hall in the federal building waiting for a scheduled briefing that had been pushed back because of the Secretary of Homeland Security’s press conference, he said. The senator said he was escorted into the conference room to listen, but he had to speak up.

“At one point, it was just too much to take,” he said. “This notion that Donald Trump and Kristi Noem have to come in and rescue the people of Los Angeles from Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass? It was too much. And so I spoke up. I introduced myself and said I had a question.”

Padilla also told Soboroff and MSNBC host Ari Melber that he had an opportunity to speak with Noem, but he did not get an answer to his question or an apology.

“If this can happen to a United States senator for having the audacity to ask a question of the secretary of homeland security,” he explained, “then just imagine what can happen to anybody in the country.”

Watch the full interview below:

The post Alex Padilla Tears Up Recounting His Kristi Noem Detainment on MSNBC: ‘It’s All BS Coming From Trump’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Trump Ordered to Return National Guard Control to Gavin Newsom by Federal Judge: ‘His Actions Were Illegal’

A federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump’s takeover of the California National Guard was illegal, and ordered the president to return control back to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

It’s a rare victory for the Golden State amid Trump’s drastically escalating response to protests against ICE raids throughout Los Angeles. But Judge Charles R. Breyer has stayed his order until noon Friday, giving the Trump administration ample time to file an emergency appear. There’s administration has also made a point of defying lower court rulings, which means likely no matter how such an appeal goes, things are unlikely to change in LA soon.

Read the ruling here.

Trump federalized the California National Guard on Saturday and deployed them to ‘support’ ICE personnel, after multiple protests sprung up in locations in and around Los Angeles in response to a sudden increase in ICE raids over the weekend. The state filed a lawsuit against the deployment on Tuesday, and Newsom has alleged that Trump’s actions starting with the increased ICE raids were intended to cause unrest specifically to justify further escalation from the administration.

The administration has since repeatedly exaggerated the scope and scale of the protests and even told outright falsehoods about the situation in order to justify the escalation.

The decision comes just hours after the shocking scene at the Wilshire Federal Building, where late Thursday morning California Senator Alex Padilla was violently shoved onto the ground by DHS agents on live television after trying to enter the room where Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was holding a press conference. Padilla was dragged out and the room and later handcuffed.

During her remarks, among other things Noem continued to state falsehoods about what is happening in Los Angeles, and openly said her goal was to illegally overthrow the city’s government for, quite literally, purely ideological reasons.

The post Trump Ordered to Return National Guard Control to Gavin Newsom by Federal Judge: ‘His Actions Were Illegal’ appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Smoke’ Review: Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett Make a Begrudging, Dynamic Team in Apple’s Fiery Crime Series

Some fans on social media say looking at a trailer of Apple TV+’s “Smoke” reminds them of the early ‘90s film, “Backdraft.” While the film and the TV series both have fire as a main theme, “Smoke,” is not about saving lives. It’s really about destroying them.

Loosely based on the “Firebug” podcast that tells the story of John Leonard Orr, an arson investigator convicted of having set thousands of fires in the Los Angeles area over approximately two decades, “Smoke” was written by the prolific novelist-turned-screenwriter-turned-TV writer Dennis Lehane. Lehane’s books “Gone Baby Gone,” “Moonlight Mile,” “Shutter Island” and the Oscar-nominated “Mystic River” became movies. He found further success as a staff writer for the Emmy-winning shows “The Wire” and “Boardwalk Empire.” In 2022, Lehane developed the true crime drama (and fan favorite) Blackbird for AppleTV+. Blackbird starred Egerton, Greg Kinnear and Ray Liotta in his last role.

Egerton (also an executive producer on “Smoke”) and Kinnear are back in “Smoke” with Kinnear convincingly playing gruff police chief Harvey Englehart. Harvey is fiercely loyal to his family and friends, so finding out that the person he mentored may be a monster happens very gradually. Even then, he’s still hoping it’s not so. Kinnear, an Oscar nominee who’s spent a lot of years making films where he is the strong support to the lead, allows his looks to give way to a character with thinning hair and the middle-aged wariness of long working a job with few rewards. It works.

Greg Kinnear in “Smoke.” (Apple)

Egerton’s arson investigator Dave Gudsen, is laser-focused on his job, has a nice wife and stepson and appears relatively content. Enter police detective Michelle Calderon (Smollett). She is bright, assertive and extremely career-oriented. We learn that this is in part to be successful, and in part to rise above the misogynistic microaggressions she regularly faces from her male co-workers. When the two are teamed up to track down two arsonists burning up the city, each is wary of the other but eventually lets down their guard to work on the case.

Or so it seems. Is Gudsen’s laser focus because he knows more about these cases than he’s letting on? Is Michelle Calderon’s perfect cop the result of good cop work, or is it because her trauma-filled childhood has led her here? Either way, the fire investigation is drawing them closer together. When Michelle was young, her mom went into some kind of psychopathic rage, started a fire that almost killed her and did indeed kill others. Fuzzy flashbacks show Michelle as a little girl, hiding in a closet as a fire rages somewhere nearby. We see glimpses of her mother’s face caught up in the ravages of her mental state as embers drop around her. Then the adult Michelle once again manages to squash her nightmare and continue with her days as a hard-charging cop. But that childhood helplessness has left her with deep-seated anger that can quickly rise if challenged. The results make for a far less than stellar cop. Make no mistake, she will get revenge. It’s enough to think that she may be one of the two arsonists they are hunting, at least for a moment.

Dave’s a different story. He works by day and writes a book in the evenings. He leans on his wife, a librarian, to read and offer pointers where he needs them. The book is about a fire investigator who also relishes starting fires but no one suspects him. We learn that Dave is feeling a lot of anxiety. He finally admits to his boss (Kinnear) that he doesn’t feel he is measuring up with his wife (played with purposely reserved warmth by Hannah Emily Anderson). Egerton’s characteristic performance gives Dave a smile that is at once many things; it is forced, too bright, desperate and could it also be maniacal?

As the story opens up, we find that no one in “Smoke” is easily likable. No one is without their flaws and secrets. The boss has them, Dave and Michelle’s co-workers have them. Michelle’s family has them, as does Dave’s wife and stepson.

Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, probably best known for “The Chi,” is just scary as a woe-be-gone character without the tools needed to make his life better. His Freddy Fasano is under-educated, works 10-hour days in a greasy fast chicken restaurant where he rarely even gets to come to the front to work the counter. He lives in a rundown apartment he barely sees, has no family or friends, and seems to live inside his head. A part of him wants to break these chains but he doesn’t know how and the darkness hovers. Mwine embodies this character so much so that you forget you’re watching an actor.

Adina Porter (“American Horror Story,” “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries”) gives a nail-biting performance as the customer (Brenda Cypus) who tries to save him but like many good samaritans, isn’t expecting her good deed to step into her private life.

British actor Rafe Spall (AppleTV+’s “Trying”) gives a solid performance as Steven Burk, the long-married cop having an on-again, off-again affair with Michelle and he should get out of it, not just for moral/heart reasons but also because it’s clear that he doesn’t seem to know when to stop.

John Leguizamo rounds out the cast in a showy role as a crafty ex-cop pushed out by Dave and pining for a chance to vindicate himself.

Taron Egerton in “Smoke.” (Apple)

Yet the series is led by Egerton and Smollett who seem to be in a character (and actor) duel to the end. Both give performances where they convincingly convey the underlying anger, pain and frustration that neither of their characters can quite grasp or extinguish.

“Smoke” has everything fans of Lehane’s books or TV shows have come to expect, mystery, action, violence, foreboding atmosphere but this series also has dark comedy and bits of fantasy. There are times when you’re not so sure where the fictional Dave’s fictional book ends and this fictional version of a true story begins.

“Smoke” premieres Friday, June 27 on Apple TV+.

The post ‘Smoke’ Review: Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett Make a Begrudging, Dynamic Team in Apple’s Fiery Crime Series appeared first on TheWrap.

CNN Security Analyst Defends Kristi Noem and Agents Who Apprehended Sen. Alex Padilla | Video

A CNN analyst defended the actions and tactics the federal agents took to apprehend Sen. Alex Padilla.

While on “The Arena,” Josh Campbell – CNN’s security correspondent who also served as an FBI agent – sided with the agents who forced the California senator from a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“From a law enforcement perspective, we’re really looking at three separate incidents that happened within a short period of time,” Campbell said. “First, you have the DHS secretary who was addressing the press. This was not a Q&A period, and she was interrupted. She was interrupted by someone who was speaking very loudly. And so her security detail confronts what we obviously now know to be the senator. And at that point, he is now going to be escorted out. You can’t interrupt something like that that’s already in progress without having those consequences.”

WOW. Even Jim Comey's bagboy — Josh Campbell, who's now a CNN correspondent — admits Democrat Alex Padilla should NOT have been charging into Secretary Noem's event and trying to forcibly resist officers pic.twitter.com/YuredB9T67

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 12, 2025

He continued: “The second incident, in my view, happens the moment — as officers are trying to lead him out — he then turns and walks back towards … kind of into those agents. At that point, from a security detail perspective, we’re taking this person out against their will. We’ve asked the person — and again, this is all happening very quickly — but the moment he then turns into them, they realize this is not someone who is going to comply.”

Despite siding with the agents in how they initially handled Padilla and the situation, Campbell admitted there would be questions raised over the necessity to bring the senator to the ground and put him in handcuffs.

“There will be big questions raised about those kinds of tactics,” Campbell added. “Were there other options that were available to the federal agents as well — as the FBI police officer there — who is responsible for security in that FBI building? What they do is they actually order him to his knees and then quickly shove him down to the ground where he is then handcuffed? So again, you’re in a federal building, people are screened for weapons — him having a gun or some type of device like that would not be a concern for those officers. So there will be a big question about the tactics that were used by the officers as they put handcuffs on him.”

Padilla was forcibly removed from Noem’s press conference about the ongoing ICE immigration raids in L.A. and the protests surrounding them. The California senator said he wanted to ask questions about plans that were in place after Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to quell the protesting.

Campbell finished by stating none of the blame for the situation should fall on Noem.

“This was neither the fault nor the responsibility of DHS Secretary Noem,” Campbell said. “She’s in the middle of a press conference. There’s someone who interrupts and then makes it clear by his movements that he is not going to comply. He’s taken out. Again, I don’t think any of that was her responsibility.”

You can watch the full CNN segment in the video above.

The post CNN Security Analyst Defends Kristi Noem and Agents Who Apprehended Sen. Alex Padilla | Video appeared first on TheWrap.

Jon Stewart Calls ABC a ‘F–king Joke’ for Firing Terry Moran Over Anti-Trump Tweet

Jon Stewart did not mince his words while addressing ABC’s firing of Terry Moran on Thursday’s episode of his “The Weekly Show” podcast.

Asked if he agreed with ABC’s decision to fire Moran after the correspondent called Trump and his White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller “world-class” haters, “The Daily Show” host did not hold back.

“Of course not,” Stewart said. “So stupid. No, for God’s sake.”

He added: “Literally every day on Fox News they’re taking stuff out of context or their people are saying utterly vicious things about democratic politicians. The entire thing is because ABC clings to this facade that they somehow exist in a bubble outside all of this.”

Stewart wrapped up his thoughts on the network’s choice succinctly, “It’s a joke. They’re a f–king joke.”

Late Saturday night, Moran posted on X in a since-deleted pair of tweets that Miller and Trump were “world-class” haters “dripping with hatred.”

“The thing about Stephen Miller is not that he is the brains behind Trumpism,” he wrote in the first missive. “Yes, he is one of the people who conceptualizes the impulses of the Trumpist movement and translates them into policy. But that’s not what’s interesting about Miller. It’s not brains. It’s bile. Miler is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater.”

After ABC News suspended him on Sunday, the network released a statement Tuesday sharing that they had permanently cut ties with the longtime correspondent and journalist.

“We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew,” a spokesperson told TheWrap of their contract with the journalist. “At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism.”

Moran, however, plans to continue his work. He announced Wednesday that he launched a Substack to cover “this time of such trouble for our country.”

“For almost 28 years, I was a reporter and anchor for ABC news. And as you may have heard, I’m not there anymore. I’m here with you on Substack, this amazing space, and I can’t wait to get at it, to get at the important work that we all have to do in this time of such trouble for our country,” Moran said in in a video posted Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m going to be reporting and interviewing and just sharing with you and hoping to hear from you as well, so it’ll be a few days, maybe a little bit longer. Gotta get some stuff sorted out but can’t wait to see,” he concluded.

The post Jon Stewart Calls ABC a ‘F–king Joke’ for Firing Terry Moran Over Anti-Trump Tweet appeared first on TheWrap.

SAG-AFTRA Video Game Deal Includes AI Consent Guardrails, Minimum Rates for Digital Replica Use

SAG-AFTRA has released the first details on the tentative deal made with companies signed to the Interactive Media Agreement after the guild’s national board approved the deal for a membership ratification vote.

Among the details revealed were protections against exploitation of generative artificial intelligence, an issue that was the sole impetus of the guild’s strike that lasted 320 days.

As part of the new deal, companies are required to have the informed consent of performers for all ways in which AI is planned to be used on their voice, likeness and movements. Performers also have the ability to suspend consent of companies to use AI to create replicas of their work during a strike.

Minimum rates will also be established for the use of digital replicas created with union-covered performances. If those performances are created for the purpose of “real-time generation” — i.e., creating a digital replica-voiced chatbot in a video game — the performer is entitled to at least 7.5x that minimum scale.

Outside of AI, the deal provides a compound increase in compensation of 15.17% upon ratification plus a 3% increase every November over the next three years. Additionally, the overtime rate maximum for overscale performers will now be based on double scale. The health and retirement contribution rates to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan will be raised from 16.5% to 17% upon ratification and to 17.5% in October 2026.

SAG-AFTRA also negotiated safety requirements, including a requirement for a qualified medical professional to be present or readily available at rehearsals and performances during which hazardous actions or working conditions are planned. Rest periods are now provided for on-camera principal performers and employers can no longer request that performers complete stunts or other dangerous activity in virtual auditions. 

The full terms of the tentative agreement will be released on June 18. Eligible members will then have until July 9 at 5 p.m. Pacific to vote on whether to ratify the agreement.

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Eric Dane Says ‘I Don’t Feel Like This Is the End of Me’ in First Interview Since ALS Diagnosis

In this first interview since revealing his ALS diagnosis in April, Eric Dane tells Diane Sawyer, “I don’t think this is the end of my story. I don’t feel like this is the end of me” in a preview clip on Thursday’s episode.

“I wake up every day and I’m immediately reminded that this is happening,” Dane told Sawyer. “It’s not a dream.”

In the 30-second teaser, Dane and Sawyer holding hands at the actor breaks into tears at one point, according to People.

The former “Gray’s Anatomy” star said he feels “fortunate” to be able to continue working. His new action thriller series “Countdown” premieres on Prime Video on June 25 and is currently in production on the long-delayed Season 3 of “Euphoria.”

Dane first announced his diagnosis in April, saying, “I have been diagnosed with ALS. I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”

Dane is married to Rebecca Gayheart: They share two teen daughters: Billie Beatrice and Georgia Geraldine.

Most ALS patients live three to five years after being diagnosed, with about 30% of living past five years and 10-20% of patients surviving 10 years or more, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. There is currently no cure for the degenerative disease.

Dane is best known for his roles as Dr. Mark Sloan on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Captain Tom Chandler on “The Last Ship,” and Cal Jacobs, the father of Jacob Elordi’s character on “Euphoria.”

Season 3 of “Euphoria” is expected to release in early 2026. The show has been off the air since the Season 2 finale in February 2022, due to the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes and the deaths of actor Angus Cloud and executive producer Kevin Turen.

The post Eric Dane Says ‘I Don’t Feel Like This Is the End of Me’ in First Interview Since ALS Diagnosis appeared first on TheWrap.

Adult Swim Sets First Spanish-Language Series for August Premiere | Exclusive

Adult Swim’s very first Spanish-language original series is coming this summer. “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” will premiere globally on Aug. 17 at midnight ET/PT, TheWrap has learned.

The announcement was made during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Market’s Work in Progress panel. The showcase featured Gonzalo Cordova, director Ana Coronilla as well as series executive producers Roy Ambriz and Arturo Ambriz of Cinema Fantasma presenting a never-before-seen episode of the upcoming series. The creative team also walked attendees through the behind-the-scenes production process for the show.

The upcoming stop-motion quarter-hour series comes from Cordova, who’s known for his work on “Tuca & Bertie” and “Adam Ruins Everything.” It also features an all-women cast. The series follows Marioneta, a proud and wealthy Spaniard living in 1980s Quito, Ecuador. As she goes through her life, Marioneta encounters a diverse group of eccentric and ambitious women as they all navigate the ups and downs of love, family and cuys.

“Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” is produced in partnership with Mexico City-based studio by Cinema Fantasma, which also produced “Frankelda’s Book of Spooks.”

In recent years, Adult Swim has expanded its slate to be more internationally focused in a way that feels organic to the animation-loving brand. After creating the “Rick and Morty” parody “Bushworld Adventures,” the Australian-based Michael Cusack created “YOLO” and “Smiling Friends” for Adult Swim. The network, which has always been invested in anime, has also invested more directly in the space in recent years between Takashi Sano’s “Rick and Morty: The Anime” and Shinichirō Watanabe’s “Lazarus,” which was licensed by Warner Bros. Television.

The post Adult Swim Sets First Spanish-Language Series for August Premiere | Exclusive appeared first on TheWrap.

‘Angry Alan’ Off Broadway Review: John Krasinski Expertly Dons Lamb’s Clothing to Play a Pig

Casting is everything, especially when a play presents a basically distasteful character and asks us to identify — or, at least, to understand.

In such theatrical situations, it helps when the actor playing the dark protagonist exudes not only charm but is innately likable. Jim Parsons, with his Nice Guy persona, made the viper-tongued Michael in “The Boys in the Band” extremely watchable. In Penelope Skinner’s “Angry Alan,” John Krasinski provides a similar charisma that puts the Roger character on the side of the audience until, one vexed comment after another, we turn on the guy.

Krasinski’s task here is far more challenging than Parsons’ in “Boys,” if for no other reason than Roger is the only character we meet in the flesh in what is almost, but not quite, a one-person 85-minute show. “Angry Alan” opened Wednesday at the new Studio Seaview after its 2018 world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival.

Roger thinks of himself as a victim of reverse discrimination. He’s divorced, and even though he lost his high-paying dream job at AT&T, the courts require Roger to pay top-dollar child support for a teenage son he rarely sees. And as male misfortune would have it, no sooner did Roger move in with his new girlfriend than she take up with a leftist-thinking group of artists who see nothing wrong with admiring Picasso’s art, despite Picasso having been a sexist; watching Woody Allen movies, despite the whole Mia/Soon-Yi/Dylan Farrow mess; and, perhaps worst of all, turning the “50 Shades of Grey” franchise into a huge success, despite all those books and movies being downright terrible.

Under Sam Gold’s sharp direction, “Angry Alan” is one of those plays that evokes very different reactions depending on your gender. Most of the laughter at the preview I attended had a distinctly feminine timber to it, and it wasn’t just the ha-ha variety. It was the kind of laughter that puts up a wall of resistance, saying, “Roger, stop being an a-hole!”

Although written and staged four years before Kimberly Belflower’s “John Proctor Is the Villain,” now on Broadway, “Angry Alan” fits into the current vogue for plays about bad-acting white straight men. The difference is, “Angry Alan” shows why men like Roger act the way they do. “John Proctor” merely incites us to lynch the creep.

Roger is angry, but as cunningly played by Krasinski, he is also kinda sweet, which is why, I think, the laughter from the men in the audience may be far less pointed in its attack. Krasinski expertly dons lamb’s clothing to play a man who’s basically a pig. Krasinski is also very effective at playing all the people in Roger’s life. He makes us want to go to the “Angry Alan” website, to which Roger has become addicted and to which he even donates one month of child support.

The more Roger visits “Angry Alan” the more limited his world view becomes. The set design by Dot aptly visualizes his state of mind. At first glance, Roger’s living room appears very detailed if rather generically appointed. Only later does the set reveal itself as a bunch of painted flats.

Skinner too often marks her criticism of Roger’s behavior by giving him little asides that directly contradict what he has just told us. Krasinski handles these comments beautifully, tossing them off as afterthoughts that the audience doesn’t catch until a moment or two later.

Roger becomes so enamored of Angry Alan that he travels to hear him speak in person. Skinner makes one big mistake here. Roger is surprised to see a few women at Angry Alan’s male-consciousness-raising confab, only to learn that one of those females is a journalist, who, in turn, tells him off when he attempts to be sociable or pick her up. (We’re never quite sure which.) Sorry: No decent journalist writing a story about such a confab would ever reveal his or her true opinion to an attendee. The reporter is there to ask questions, and becoming an active participant by verbally trashing a guy like Roger is to stop soaking up the color necessary to write a good story.

Now that I got that off my reporter chest, Skinner missed a dramatic opportunity here. The female journalist should have led Roger on, letting him think she was writing a positive piece. When he then reads the finished article in the safety of his vacuum of a living room, only then does Roger realize how he has been used, giving him even more reason for his feelings of victimization.

“Angry Alan” nicely recovers from this big misfire with a surprise ending that should remain a surprise. In the Playbill program, five actors’ names are listed as “cameos.” I’ve never before seen that credit used in the theater, and four of the names are actors who only appear on stage as large photo projections. The fifth is Ryan Colone, who, in about only 10 minutes of stage time, gives “Angry Alan” a most explosive ending.

The post ‘Angry Alan’ Off Broadway Review: John Krasinski Expertly Dons Lamb’s Clothing to Play a Pig appeared first on TheWrap.

Conan O’Brien Reveals the Hilariously Bad Name Change He Wanted for ‘Late Night’ When He Took the Job | Video

In his first appearance NBC’s “Late Night” since leaving the show in 2009, Conan O’Brien cracked up current host Seth Meyers by revealing the absolutely terrible name change he suggested when he took over the show in 1993.

O’Brien hosted the show from 1993-2009, a critically acclaimed and culturally impactful run filled with weird, original humor still praised to this day. But he took over the show from its creator, David Letterman, an already legendary late night host who left to create “The Late Show” for CBS. And as he explained to Meyers, Letterman’s legacy made them extremely self conscious.

“When [the show’s first head writer] Robert Smigel and I take over the late night, and the whole country is saying, I mean, there are articles that say ‘this is insane,’ ‘Who is Conan O’Brien,’ ‘this is a bad idea, and that’s my family talking,” O’Brien explained. “And everyone thought, this is, this is this is going to work. And so that was bad. And I don’t know, we were so afraid of being compared to Letterman, because he’s a genius. He invented this time slot and this sensibility. And we kept thinking, we don’t want to be associated. We want people to think we’re doing something different. Let’s not use the name ‘Late Night.'”

“And Robert and I became convinced that we should change the name to, I’m not kidding, we were convinced that it should be ‘Nighty Night with Conan O’Brien,’ and that that would show everyone that it’s a different show,” O’Brien continued.

Fortunately, a meeting with an NBC executive nipped that terrible idea in the bud.

“We had a meeting with this guy named Rick Ludwin, who was a saint and a wonderful man, but old school jacket and tie, he went in and talked to Johnny Carson every night about the show, and then he’d come and talk to me about my show. And you know, this is just, this is how it’s done. He was the guy in late night who was the old school, and he’d tell us where to put the mic and how to sit. It was just a different environment back then. And we went in and we said, just, let’s hear us out. Rick, it’s not ‘Late Night’ anymore. It’s ‘Nighty Night.’ And he started scratching the back of his head, really buttoned down guy, but I saw four blood vessels burst.”

Ludwin told O’Brien and Smigel that “Late Night is a fruitful franchise. We built that franchise. We were going to keep that franchise, that franchise will long, long outlive you, we’re going to keep that,” at which point, O’Brien said, “we ran away.”

Watch the clip below:

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