When he does his job correctly, Seth Meyers is able to shine a light on his Late Night guests and their upcoming projects.
But much to his chagrin earlier this week, it was Meyers who was getting all the attention after an impromptu ice cream social with Joe Biden.
On Monday night, the comedian scored quite a coup when he was paid a personal visit by the President of the United States to help celebrate Late Night’s 10th anniversary. The two chatted about a range of topics, from the president’s age to Taylor Swift conspiracy theories. When the interview concluded, Biden invited Meyers to join him for an ice cream, to which the host happily agreed. Which is where things got “weird,” according to Meyers.
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A few hours after finishing up work for the day, Meyers went home, grabbed a seat on the couch, and tried to relax by “doing what all Americans do to relax: turned on cable news,” Meyers explained. “And I was flabbergasted, dumbstruck, one might even say agog” to realize that footage of his visit to the ice cream shop was all over just about every channel of his television.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins may have set up the footage of the two men chowing down on ice cream cones best when she explained that “the president made a spontaneous announcement at an ice cream shop after he had taped a segment with the late-night host Seth Meyers, which is why you see him standing by his side,” she said, by way of explanation.
If the sight of two grown men eating ice cream cones together wasn’t bizarre enough, Biden decided to answer a few questions from reporters who had gathered—including one about a long-awaited ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.
“It was really strange,” said MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough—which might be the understatement of the year.
“You think it was strange for you,” an incredulous Meyers asked. “I was standing right next to him. Usually I’m the one taking closer looks at the news. Now I’m in the news, which means it’s time to take a closer look at myself.”
Meyers then proceeded to give a hilarious play-by-play of his surreal moment in being part of history, noting that he was ashamed for “forgetting the first rule of comedy: When the Middle East comes up, put your ice cream cone down!”
“Never before in my life has the Curb Your Enthusiasm music been louder in my head than during this moment,” Meyers claimed. It only got worse when he realized that the ice cream incident had become a global news story, with BBC News offering their take on the now-viral moment between Biden and… Seth Mayer.
“Seth Mayer?!,” Meyers screamed with indignation Wednesday night night during a segment he re-titled “A Closer Lick.”.
“Well the hits keep on coming! Who is Seth Mayer? You’re making me sound like the less cool brother of John Mayer. While Jon Mayer shreds on stage, Seth Mayer stands off to the side eating ice cream.”
Ultimately, Meyers was most offended by a pro-Trump user of X, formerly Twitter, who posted about how “very strange” it was that Biden is a grown man who gets ice cream by himself.
“He’s not by himself,” Meyers raged. “I’m standing right there! I’m Seth Fucking Mayer and I deserve some respect!”
