Conan O’Brien Repeatedly Called Out A Guest During His Most Awkward Interview Ever

Highlights

• Conan O’Brien’s interview with Kari Wuhrer was famously awkward, with multiple uncomfortable moments and exchanges.
• Despite the awkwardness, the interview was harmless and didn’t involve any offensive remarks.
• The interview has since become infamous among Conan O’Brien’s fans, with many considering it to be one of his worst interviews.

During the ’90s, there were several talk show hosts that fans adored enough to continue following them now. A perfect example of that is Conan O’Brien, a former talk show host who managed to become rich and he continues to have loads of fans now that he is a podcast host.

While O’Brien was a fantastic talk show host, he had to deal with uncomfortable moments during his television tenure. In fact, one of O’Brien’s interviews became so awkward that the host wound up calling out his guest several times in the middle of it.

What Made Conan O’Brien’s Kari Wuhrer Interview So Awkward?

Since the late 2010s, Kari Wuhrer has mostly disappeared from the public eye. However, at the height of Wuhrer’s career, the actor, singer, model, and host seemed to be in the running to become Hollywood’s next big thing.

In 1999, Wuhrer was starring in the show Sliders, and her album “Shiny” was being released. In an attempt to promote her album, Wuhrer appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Unfortunately for Wuhrer, that appearance isn’t remembered for her efforts to promote her album.

What are Kari Wuhrer’s best movies according to Flickchart’s users?

• Higher Learning (1995)
• Thinner (1996)
• Kissing a Fool (1998)

When Wuhrer walked out on Conan O’Brien’s stage, she seemed to be filled with nervous energy. While that is understandable, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. After all, O’Brien’s previous guest, Stephen Wright, was seated beside Wuhrer throughout her interview. Since Wright is known for his monotone delivery, their energies couldn’t have been more different.

After Wuhrer seemed to let out an excited scream, O’Brien brought up how different she and Wright were. That was followed by the first awkward moment of the interview, as Wuhrer seemed to insult Wright directly to his face.

“I figured it wasn’t a difficult act to follow.”

While Wright isn’t as famous today as he once was, he is widely considered to be a comedy genius. As a result, the idea that anyone would think he is an easy act to follow is flabbergasting. For that reason, O’Brien responded to Wuhrer’s comment by remarking, ‘What?” in a confused tone of voice.

Wright also picked up on Wuhrer’s comment and seemed legitimately offended. In response, Wright made his thumb and forefinger look like a firearm, and he directed it at Wuhrer’s head. To Wuhrer’s credit, she tried to explain her comment. Wuhrer then tried to play off the situation with incredibly awkward jokes followed by kissing Wright on the cheek.

“I meant energy-wise. We talked about this before. He knows I just can’t stand him. Are you retiring? I love him. Not really. I do.”

As a result of Wuhrer’s remarks, there was a stunned silence that took over O’Brien’s studio for several painful seconds. O’Brien responded to the tension by jokingly calling Wuhrer out for the first time.

“You just won, in six years, most awkward start to an interview. I think.” Wuhrer then went back to talking about Wright by claiming he got her excited backstage and then chastising him for always talking about retiring. Mere seconds after he did it the first time. O’Brien called Wuhrer out again.

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“You have like, eight personalities don’t you? Yeah, You hated him, you wanted him to retire, and he excited you backstage.”

Instead of attempting to change the subject, Wuhrer tried to explain her comments about Wright once again. In fairness to Wuhrer, it seemed clear that everything she was saying was part of an attempt to joke around.

Obviously aware of how poorly things were going, Wuhrer joined in by calling herself out. “I’m not funny, huh?” Always aware of how to get a laugh, O’Brien perfectly played off that moment. Looking directly into the camera with an uncomfortable look on his face, O’Brien responded, “Yes you are” like he was in a hostage video.

At this point, Wuhrer and O’Brien were less than two minutes into their interview. Wuhrer had been called out three times and O’Brien was about to make fun of her again. When Wuhrer finally tried to change the subject, she described dreaming about O’Brien and made a strange sound. Unable to resist, O’Brien mocked the sound Wuhrer made.

Throughout the remainder of their almost seven-minute interview, Wuhrer was called out many, many times. O’Brien would mock Wuhrer, then she’d call herself out, he’d tell her not to be hard on herself, and then he’d make fun of her some more. Rinse and repeat.

One highlight, or lowlight depending on your perspective, came when O’Brien claimed to be terrified of Wuhrer. O’Brien also went on to change tactics by laughing at Wuhrer’s jokes even as he made it obvious that he had no idea why her comments were supposed to be funny. At one point, O’Brien even asked Wright to save him from the awkward interview.

How Did Conan O’Brien’s Fans React To Kari Wuhrer’s Disastrous Interview?

The thing about Kari Wuhrer’s interview on Late Night with Conan O’Brien is that it was disastrous but harmless. After all, it wasn’t like Wuhrer, O’Brien, Stephen Wright, or Andy Richter who was also present said anything offensive. Instead, the interview was just epically awkward.

Since there was nothing about Wuhrer’s interview to make people angry, it has become somewhat infamous among O’Brien’s fans. A 2022 Reddit post titled “Is this the Worst Conan Interview of all? (Obviously not Conan’s fault)” proves that fact.

According to what Conan O’Brien told Dax Shepard and Monica Padman during an episode of their podcast “Armchair Expert”, Kari Wuhrer wasn’t his worst guest ever. Instead, O’Brien named the director Abel Ferrara as the worst person he has ever interviewed.

In the comment section of the post which links to the YouTube upload of Wuhrer’s interview, some people react like it is the first time they’ve seen the interview. Reddit user u/plunker234 praised O’Brien for trying to help Wuhrer. However, u/Dandan0005’s post really says it all.

“I made it like 2 minutes and I assume it only gets worse”

While it is interesting to read people’s first reactions to Wuhrer’s interview, other comments reveal how infamous her discussion with O’Brien has become. After all, the top-voted comment that hasn’t been removed from u/creepynut shows that O’Brien’s biggest fans know about Wuhrer’s interview all too well.

“Ha ha, even before opening it I was like ‘I wonder if this is the Kari Wuhrer’ interview.”