Adam Scott Reveals BTS of ‘Deeply Embarrassing’ Thing He Did on Conan O’Brien Show That Got Cut: 'I'd Mocked...'

In a recent interview, Adam Scott recalled the time he performed an "embarrassing" bit on Conan O’Brien’s talk show and later begged the channel not to air it.

Written by Shreya Patnaik , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Feb 19, 2025 | 07:26 PM IST | 26.9K

Adam Scott (PC: Getty Images)

Adam Scott opened up about a stint that he regrets doing on TV but luckily, for him, it never aired! On Monday, February 17, the Severance actor appeared on the Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend podcast and recalled the time his joke bombed when he visited O’Brien’s show to promote Big Little Lies season 2.

In the bit that Scott loosely planned to perform, he compared his castmates to the '80s supergroup Traveling Wilburys. He thought the bit would acknowledge the amazing and star-studded cast of Big Little Lies if it’s called “‘the Traveling Wilburys of legendary actresses.'”

While Scott anticipated the comparison to the comedic explosion it turned out to be “one of the most deeply embarrassing moments” of his life. “I had mocked up the album cover with, instead of the Traveling Wilburys, the actress’s faces on their bodies,” the Parks and Recreation actor said about his elaborate bit.

The supergroup consisted of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Dhani Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jim Keltner. So Scott replaced Dylan and Harrison’s faces with Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman’s faces.

But during the taping, the actor realized that people didn’t know the music group enough to understand his joke. “Nobody under 50 knows who the fuck the Traveling Wilburys are,” he added. Scott recalled that the crowd went so silent after his joke that he could hear the noise air condenser playing somewhere on the set.

The actor admitted to having begged the channel not to air his stint and save him from further embarrassment. Listening to this anecdote, the podcast host said he remembers Scott as one of the celebrities who bombed on his show over the years.

Big Little Lies is a comedy-drama series that features Nicole Kidman, Reeser Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, Zoë Kravitz, Meryl Streep, and Alexander Skarsgård, among many others as the leads.