Since 2009, Jimmy Fallon has been one of the most noteworthy late-night talk show hosts. Currently, the host of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the former Saturday Night Live star has become a cornerstone of NBC's programming. In fact, the network has so much faith in the current version of The Tonight Show that they renewed the talk show to continue to air for several more years.
Thanks to how much faith NBC clearly has in Fallon, millions of fans have gotten to spend many hours watching him on television. In the modern media landscape, it has become normal for talk show hosts to sometimes talk to viewers about their personal lives. Given that and the fact that Fallon has been a talk show host for more than 15 years now, many of his fans have become invested in his personal life. That makes the talk show host's recent announcement extremely heartbreaking to see.
Jimmy Fallon announced that he was grieving the loss of his beloved dog
In October 2025, Jimmy Fallon revealed the sad news that his dog, Gary, had passed away to his more than 28 million Instagram followers. Alongside photos of the dog's life, Jimmy wrote a tribute that began with a description of how much Gary meant to his family.
"She was the last name we signed on every birthday card. She was our first baby, a therapist, a pillow, a big sister, a schoolmarm, a comedian, a party girl and a rebel."
As affecting as it is to see that Jimmy described Gary as the first baby that he and his wife had, The Tonight Show's host then revealed how much affection he has for Gary. Jimmy went on to describe how his dog behaved in a way that radiated with the talk show host's love for his dog.
"Definitely not a watchdog—she would have let burglars in and shown them where we kept the bacon and American cheese slices. Always smiling even when she slept. She loved a good scratch and would lean into you if she liked you, though “if” is generous—she did this for basically everyone. She would jump into the pool immediately after being shampooed and dried (noooooo!) then she’d do her laps (backstroke - jk doggie paddle) then lie in the grass on her back doing bunny kicks with her tongue sticking out. That meant summer to me. 13 and a half years we were lucky to have with you," Fallon continued.
From there, Jimmy ended his post with a description of how deeply upset his family was that their beloved dog had passed away.
"Franny, Winnie, Mommy and I miss you. The house misses you. The house is so quiet. The quiet is so loud. But that quiet is slowly being filled with stories about you and laughter amongst the sniffles. Thank you for everything. Gosh, we miss you so much. Goodnight, Gary."
Any animal lover is going to be heartbroken for Jimmy and his family after learning about them losing the hairy member of their family. On top of that, the loss of Gary may be more meaningful for fans if they learn an interesting fact about Gary. In November 2017, Jimmy revealed to People that he and his wife adopted Gary after the animal made an appearance on Jimmy's first talk show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The dog appeared in a segment of the talk show after the animal was dressed up to look like a political pundit.