Late-night worlds collided in the best way when Greg Gutfeld dropped by The Tonight Show and reminded Jimmy Fallon of a night neither will ever fully forget, even if one of them barely remembered it in the first place.
From hugs to “Wait… we’ve met before”
When Gutfeld walked on stage, he went straight for a hug. “It brought back memories,” he told Fallon, grinning. Fallon’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “This is hilarious, we’ve met before,” he said.
Gutfeld didn’t waste a second. “Yes, you have no memory of it… which is understandable, because we were wasted.” The audience roared.
According to the Fox News host, the year was roughly 15 years ago, the setting an “illegal speakeasy” in Hell’s Kitchen owned by a mutual friend named Tracy. Fallon jumped in, remembering just enough to laugh about bringing beer into the bar — only to be charged for it by Tracy himself.
“That’s Tracy. Very cheap,” Gutfeld joked, adding that the bar “looked like a place where special ops forces waterboard terrorists” and quipping, “if you want somebody dead, he’ll do it.”
The golden retriever tackle heard ’round Hell’s Kitchen
Then came the part Fallon definitely didn’t see coming.
“You run towards me and tackle me like you’re a giant golden retriever,” Gutfeld recalled, acting out the move for the crowd. What followed was impromptu wrestling — first with Gutfeld, then with his friend Andy, until the two were literally on the ground.
Somewhere in the chaos, Gutfeld lit a cigarette… which Fallon promptly grabbed, crumpled, and threw it. “These things will kill you!” Fallon had declared at the time.
That’s when Gutfeld hit him with, “Dude, I’m not rich. You’re rich. Cigarettes are expensive in New York City.” Fallon’s expression fell, and moments later, he disappeared from the bar.
Only to return five minutes later with a brand-new pack.
“That was really sweet. You want me to die,” Gutfeld teased as the Tonight Show crowd howled.
Good-natured chaos, then and now
Fallon confirmed the whole tale, grinning as he apologized for the tackle. “That’s a true story… all the details are correct,” he said.
Gutfeld called it “all very good-natured” and a memory he was glad to finally tell him. The rest of the segment turned to his Fox Nation game show What Did I Miss? and his long, winding path to his current hosting gigs — a journey he admitted included “getting fired plenty of times” before landing at Fox.
Fallon wrapped it up with a smile: “Congrats on the series being picked up another season. That’s a big deal.”
Turns out, some late-night stories are too good to stay in the archives, especially when they involve beer, wrestling, and a surprise act of cigarette kindness.
