It wouldn’t be a late night talk show without an opening monologue that takes no prisoners. On the June 8 airing of The Tonight Show, complete with the return of the live audience, Jimmy Fallon aimed his roast-fest at some not-too-surprising targets. Specifically, he joked about Chris Harrison’s exit from Bachelor Nation, The Bachelorette Season 17 premiere, with a little bit about Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul’s fight for good measure.
The majority of Jimmy Fallon’s roast on The Tonight Show honed in on the recent news of Chris Harrison’s departure from ABC’s Bachelor franchise, after 19 years as host. Harrison had technically already left, but many assumed it was temporary, not permanent. And the jokes about it were pretty funny. Fallon quipped,
Yep, Harrison knew there was trouble when the producers brought his suitcase to the meeting… It’s gonna be awkward in the finale when the limo driver lowers the partition to reveal it’s Chris Harrison… Right now, he’s editing his resume like, ‘Matchmaker with 19 years’ experience and… three successful couples.’ Give or take. Two successful couples.
Of course, late night jokes are always a bit of low-hanging fruit. In his roast, Jimmy Fallon wisely aimed clear of the reason behind Chris Harrison’s exit as host of Bachelor Nation, which actually resulted from his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay that was deemed racially insensitive amidst an already growing race scandal on the last season of The Bachelor. It probably wouldn’t have been the most self-serving of jokes for Fallon to compare the situation to his own controversy from a couple months ago.
Jimmy Fallon didn’t stop with Chris Harrison’s exit, however. He also roasted the premiere of Katie Thurston’s Bachelorette season on June 7. This time he did make a comparison, albeit one to that Logan Paul/Floyd Mayweather match. He said,
That’s right, The Bachelorette is back and everyone’s fired up but you just have to remember it’s a staged show that’s mostly fake… kinda like a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul.
Fans were also having a bit of fun at Logan Paul’s expense, even clowning him for being knocked out by Floyd Mayweather. Spectators were already assuming the match was manufactured simply for clout-chasing purposes. And the rule change that there was to be no official winner only seemed to confirm it. At least in The Bachelorette, there is usually a final rose winner - whether they take that rose (and keep it) is another story.
In between the taunts against Chris Harrison and Logan Paul, Jimmy Fallon also joked about the contestants involved this season on The Bachelorette. But Conner B. with his ukulele in the bathtub and the “surgical skins salesman” were only the tip of the humor from the premiere. There was also replacement hosts Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe eating popcorn while watching the gimmicky guys roll out of limos.
But all in all, Chris Harrison is reportedly walking away from Bachelor Nation with eight figures. Meanwhile, Logan Paul might've been cold-clocked but he has a $1 million Pokemon chain. So maybe they have the last laugh after all, no matter what Jimmy Fallon has to say.
