Conan O’Brien Jokingly Shades Kelly Clarkson For Taking Over His Former ‘Late Night’ Studio: “You Make Me Sick!”

Conan O’Brien made his comeback to Tonight’s showwhere he admitted it was “weird” to be back.

The comedian appeared as a guest at Tuesday night’s (April 9) taping to promote his new series Max. Conan O’Brien must go. After current host Jimmy Fallon made his introduction, O’Brien playfully chastised the audience for their lengthy standing ovation.

“I know you mean well, but I had Tonight’s show for 10 minutes and you just ate up my time! ” he said. “That’s all the time I have. Stop him! »

O’Brien briefly hosted Tonight’s show for seven months in 2010 before being fired and replaced by Jay Leno in what could be described as a very messy exit. Although there were no signs of tension or awkwardness upon his return, he admitted it was “weird coming back.”

“I haven’t been in this building in so long, and I haven’t been on this floor in forever,” he told Fallon on the show.

But before his short term Tonight’s show, O’Brien hosted the famous Late at night show from 1993 to 2009.

“You have strange memories,” he said. “I mean, I spent 16 years here doing the Late at night show before going out to LA, and right across the hall – all those memories came flooding back to me.

These days, as the guest pointed out, Kelly Clarkson’s eponymous daytime talk show is housed in what was once her Late at night studio.

“I love Kelly Clarkson. Who doesn’t love Kelly Clarkson? But I still felt like, “This isn’t right! Blasphemy! They should have burned it to the ground,” he joked. “And then Kelly came over to say hello and I said, ‘Don’t talk to me!’ You make me sick!’ I feel bad, Kelly, I really do.

O’Brien has been shooting since Tonight’s show came after NBC suggested pushing back its timeslot to allow earlier airtime for the Jay Leno Show. At the time, he issued a lengthy statement opposing the move.

“For 60 years, the Tonight Show was broadcast immediately after the latest local news,” he wrote. “I sincerely believe that delaying Tonight Show the next day to host another comedy program would seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in broadcast history. THE Tonight Show at 12:05 p.m., it’s just not the Tonight Show.”

After O’Brien left, Leno ended up hosting the long-running talk show until his retirement in 2014 and passed the torch to Fallon, who has hosted it ever since.