During Conan O'Brien's decades-long hosting career, he managed to become one of the most beloved figures in the history of talk shows. There are many reasons why O'Brien has so many passionate fans, including the fact that he can be so funny that he arguably created the best talk show moment ever. On top of that, O'Brien is such a caring figure, despite his sarcastic humor, that he regularly does sweet things like be very supportive of Andy Richter, his friend and former co-host.
Considering everything he has accomplished, the idea that others would want to be associated with O'Brien's fame makes perfect sense. As a result, it didn't seem too remarkable when a recent Netflix ad tried to associate an upcoming reboot show that will become part of the streaming service's library with O'Brien. However, O'Brien had a hilarious reaction when he recently learned about the erroneous claim about the origin of his career.
Conan O'Brien had a hilarious reaction to claim Star Search launched his career
Between 1983 and 1995, the original version of the talent show named Star Search was a television staple. Then, the show briefly returned with an updated version between 2003 and 2004. Over those years, many people who would go on to become major stars tried to win on Star Search.
On Dec. 10, 2025, Netflix's official website published an article detailing the fact that a new version of Star Search will premiere on the streaming service on Jan. 20, 2026. Hosted by Anthony Anderson, Netflix's version of the show will air two episodes weekly after that, according to that article. To promote the new version of the talent show, Netflix released a trailer, which focuses on the long list of celebrities who competed on previous versions of Star Search before becoming famous.
A Dec. 29, 2025, episode of Conan O'Brien's podcast, "Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend," which can be watched on YouTube, featured a discussion about Star Search. At roughly the 56-minute point in the podcast, O'Brien was shown the first version of the trailer for the new version of Star Search. Remarkably, that trailer included O'Brien's name among the celebrities whose careers began with an appearance on a previous version of Star Search. Clearly astonished to see his own name, O'Brien joked about wishing he could have claimed to have competed on Star Search.
"No, that is not my origin story. If it was, I would shout it to the rooftops. I wish I had been on Star Search. Would have had at least a little more experience before I took over late night in 1993. No. I honestly, I am flabbergasted… I mean, unless I'm dangerously in need of neurosurgery. I have had no connection. I'm not upset at all… I'm glad someone thinks that it's worth putting me in there… Is it possible that on the old late-night show we did a bit once about Star Search and they're showing that or something?"
From there, O'Brien and his podcast co-hosts tried to figure out what could have led to his name being wrongfully included in the trailer. One theory that was suggested was that the people who produced the trailer intentionally included O'Brien's name to trick him into talking about Star Search on his podcast to give the new show free promotion. One of O'Brien's co-hosts, Sona Movsesian, jokingly expressed anger about the mistake and at the idea that the new version of Star Search had attempted to change O'Brien's origin story to trade on his credibility. Movsesian also joked about the idea of O'Brien competing on Star Search as she questioned what his talent would have been.
Ultimately, O'Brien and his co-hosts pledged to discuss his name appearing in the first version of the trailer during a later episode of the podcast. The reason for the delay is that the team promised to bring on O'Brien's lawyer to discuss the matter on one of the podcast's microphones with them.
On December 5th, 2025, O'Brien followed through with that pledge by having his lawyer appear on an episode of "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" that can be watched on YouTube. During the discussion that starts at roughly the 53-minute mark, O'Brien joked that Netflix stands for deep pockets in German. However, O'Brien's lawyer quickly poured cold water on the prospect of them being able to successfully sue for big money. However, after O'Brien joked about firing his lawyer for not talking about cashing in, the lawyer pretended to reverse course. Ultimately, it appears that O'Brien's lawyer will try to find out how the mistake was made and return to the podcast to discuss what he discovers.