Conan O’Brien’s swooping bangs are so iconic that they’re a part of the Team Coco logo — his character in this summer’s Toy Story 5, a talking toilet-training toy, even sported them during a fantasy sequence. However they have gone missing this week in favor of a slicked-back look that ages the comedian several decades — a style he explained on his podcast was the result of a bad scalp sunburn.
As he tells it, when O’Brien attended the opening ceremony for President Obama’s Presidential Center, he was feeling very proud of himself for remembering to put sunblock on his face before the outdoor event. However, he wasn’t wearing a hat, and “a day or two later, I feel like my skull is on fire. Then two days after that, my skull is really itchy, and whenever I itch it… White freckled confetti is pouring off of my head. It’s disgusting.”
To treat the burn, O’Brien rubbed oil onto his head — before realizing that he would have to be on camera to record that day’s podcast. Cue the jokes about joining the Thunderbirds from Grease and turning into Gordon Gekko from the movie Wall Street. Hopefully, O’Brien’s scalp heals soon and his hair can return to normal, because the new look is unsettling. Check out his full explanation below.
