Conan O’Brien had fans doing a double-take when he debuted a dramatically different hairstyle during a recent podcast episode. Fans have been speculating about the slicked-back look for the late-night legend, but now Conan is addressing it. O’Brien has revealed the surprising and painfully relatable reason behind the unexpected transformation.
The Reason is Relatable
O’Brien debuted the greased-up hairdo after the release of the latest episode of the “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” podcast, in which Molly Shannon was the guest. Fans went wild when they saw the new look, and now O’Brien is explaining why he ditched his signature pompadour, thanks to a video shared with Entertainment Weekly.
On June 18, Conan attended the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s Jackson Park with his wife, Liza Powel. After realizing the opening would be held outside, he put some sunscreen on his face and went about his day.
When explaining to his co-host Sona Movsesian and assistant David Hopping, O’Brien said, “It’s three hours-plus, and when it’s over, I’m so glad that I put the sunblock on, and I’m feeling really good about myself. Like, smart move.”
He said he was feeling good about himself when he walked over to “bright, bright red” fellow guests Stephen Colbert and David Letterman. O’Brien joked they looked like they had “been playing in a sandbox with plutonium.”
As it turns out, his own sunburn story was just beginning. He said, “A day or two later, after the event, I feel like my skull is on fire, and then two days after that, my [scalp] is really itchy, and whenever I itch it, it looks like a snow globe. It looks like confetti—white freckled confetti is pouring off of my head. It’s disgusting.”
Feels Like a Member of the T-Birds
Someone then told O’Brien he was suffering from a scalp sunburn, and he would have to treat it. That is when all the grease came out.
O’Brien added, “I’m not used to [that] because I’ve got so much hair. But this sun just blasted right through my hair, and it roasted my scalp, and someone said to treat this, you’ve got to rub oil into it. So this morning, I rubbed oil into it, not thinking about the podcast when we went on camera, and then I come in and I look like I’m in Sha Na Na. I’m a grease ball. I’m so greasy. I’m Frankie [Valli].”
The grease definitely made him feel like he was a member of the T-Birds from “Grease.”
Conan joked, “I look like I want to fight one of you in the parking lot by swinging a chain at you in 1952, or come at you with a switchblade. I really feel different. I just want to fight people on the street. I want to get a hot rod and drive it around. I want to get Rizzo pregnant, so that Rizzo has a bun in the oven. You know what I mean?”
He ended by saying he is a “grease ball now,” and he’s “just gonna keep rubbing oil into my head until this skull heals.”
Co-Hosts Have Mixed Feelings
While fans were up in arms over the new look, Conan got mixed reviews from his podcast co-hosts.
Movsesian said she “likes this look” on him, but Hopping wasn’t a fan.
Hopping said, “I don’t like it, no. We got to fix the burn.”
He still looks old and gay no haircut will change that!