Harrison Ford Gleefully Roasts Conan O’Brien on His Own Podcast

If Conan O’Brien is still looking for a friend like the title of his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, suggests, he might want to look somewhere other than Harrison Ford. The July 2nd episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend was the most recent publicity tour stop for the Indiana Jones actor, and things got a little (playfully?) heated. 

The two took a trip down memory lane and reflected on Ford’s “many, many” appearances on Late Night, which O’Brien cited as being some of his favorites. The host then explained the reasoning to Ford, saying, “You are so hilariously funny. You tossed me around like a rag doll, verbally, on these shows, and they’re some of my favorite segments of all time. You are a hilarious man, and I’ve always loved being around you.”

Ford returned the compliment, telling O’Brien that he and the writing staff “wrote some great stuff,” which is where the niceties ended and the “verbal tossing” O’Brien referred to began. “I don’t remember any of it,” Ford continued.

Later in the conversation, the two had a playful argument over Ford’s ancestry. After Ford questioned the existence of being “German-Irish” and insisted that his father was “Irish-Irish,” O’Brien consulted some notes he took prior to the podcast. “I refer you to this piece of paper right here,” O’Brien said. “That says, ‘Born and raised in Chicago to an Irish-German father.’”

Ford obliged his host’s insistence, only to discover that the notes also included a reminder to O’Brien that Ford played Han Solo in five Star Wars films, a character who is arguably just as iconic as Indiana Jones. Ford called out O’Brien on this, arguing, “It says ‘Harrison Ford,’ and then you had to write ‘Han Solo.’ You can’t fucking remember that?”

Without skipping a beat, O’Brien fired back, “No, I can’t. I can’t remember Han Solo. I wrote it down because I heard that you were in some of the Star Wars films, and this was news to me because I’ve seen those films and I don’t exactly think that you pop. I’m sorry. But I mean, I remember Chewbacca, I remember the bad guy with the black helmet and then… there’s some people.”

As hilarious as O’Brien’s riff was, Ford refused to let him have the final word, nonchalantly asking the host, “How come you’re not still on television?” 

Conan O’Brien certainly needed a friend after that.