At first, Melissa McCarthy thought it was Santa Claus suddenly popping out of a box to surprise scare her on Ellen Thursday. Then, much to her delight, she realized it was her favorite pop sensation Billie Eilish, rocking an oversized red designer sweatsuit and chunky rings on each of her claw-nailed fingers in the way only she can.
The 17-year-old “bad guy” still managed to make mischief right before kicking off her North American tour in San Francisco Wednesday night (Ellen tapes the day before it airs). However, Ellen’s offer to simultaneously make McCarthy’s fangirl dreams come true and scare her half to death was a detour too tempting to pass up.
While guest-hosting the talk show earlier this month, McCarthy revealed she is an Eilish superfan: “I love her, I’m completely obsessed with her, we listen to her all the time. In fact, if you don’t like her, just get up and get out.”
The self-described “48-year-old Midwestern mother of two” then went on to take a shot at proving herself worthy of someday collaborating with Eilish and paid tribute to her teen idol by debuting “Bad Guys”, a remake of Eilish’s own music video for her hit single of the same name.
Recalling McCarthy’s moment in Thursday’s episode, Ellen asked if she had since heard from Eilish. Turns out, Ellen was setting the stage for the jump scare as the singer then emerged from a box that had previously appeared to be an unassuming coffee table, leaving McCarthy breathless in disbelief.
McCarthy wasn’t the only one who nearly fell out of her seat: her The Kitchen (out Aug. 9) costar Elisabeth Moss tried to use Tiffany Haddish as a human shield on their shared sofa.
Watch the full video above for more.
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