‘He Killed My Dad’: The Internet Celebrates Conan O’Brien’s Gallows Humor Over the Death of His Parents

The internet celebrated Conan O’Brien’s handling of the death of his parents after a video of himself and friend Will Arnett publicly retelling how a dark running joke between them brought some levity to the situation went viral online.

On a December 8 episode of O’Brien’s Needs a Friend podcast, Arnett recalled reaching out after learning that Dr. Thomas F. O’Brien had died last year.

“I hear that your dad passed away and I text you that day or the next day and I said, ‘Hey, listen. I’m sorry to hear about your dad’s passing, sending love from our family to yours,’” Arnett said.

The reply Arnett received from O’Brien, he then revealed, was: “Thank you, Will. To be honest, I blame Bateman” – meaning Arnett’s Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman.

The crew erupted in laughter.

“For the death of my father,” O’Brien followed.

“A day after the death of his father,” Arnett reiterated, the continued: “So I wrote, ‘It’s not a terrible theory.’ And Conan texted me back, ‘He killed my dad.’”

As those in the studio let out a shocked “Oh my God!”, O’Brien cut in to caveat that his father “would have loved this.”

The spiralling bit soon drew in Bateman himself, after Arnett revealed the joke to him. Bateman then reportedly texted O’Brien – “Arnett tells me you’re on to me” – prompting O’Brien to respond: “Bateman, do yourself a favor. Turn yourself in.”

The exchange continued after O’Brien’s mother died just days later, with Arnett texting, “‘Um, Bateman is asking for your sister’s street address. Okay to give?’”

O’Brien eventually replied: “‘Just seeing this now. Fantastic… tell Bateman to make it look like a robbery.’”

For O’Brien, the irreverence was its own form of composure.

“You know what’s weird? I swear to God, this is how I grieve,” he told the crew and listeners. “It was so comforting for me to screw around with you guys at that moment.”

Fox News’ Mary Katherine Ham, who shared the clip, called it “HEALING”:

Another user lauded the bit as “peak friendship”:

Away from the dark jokes, O’Brien has talked fondly of his parents’ devotion, describing them as “kindred spirits.”

Watch above via YouTube.

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