The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Episode: “Unhinged Trump Retaliates Against the EU by Leaking Private Greenland Texts with Macron”
Guests: Will Smith, Jennette McCurdy, Josh Hart
Date: January 21, 2026

Episode Overview

This lively episode of The Tonight Show mixes Jimmy Fallon’s signature offbeat monologue with A-list guests: Will Smith (discussing his bold adventures in “Pole to Pole”), Jennette McCurdy (on embracing dark comedy in her new novel), and Knicks guard Josh Hart (on sports, fatherhood, and candy superstitions). The show’s tone is energetic and irreverent, ranging from political satire to confetti-filled celebrations.

Main Segments & Discussion Highlights

1. Monologue: Cold Snaps, Trump Satire, and Surreal Headlines

[01:10 - 05:31]

• Extreme Cold in NYC & DC: Fallon riffs on how cold it is, with tongue-in-cheek lines about hockey players spooning and Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize being traded for a Hot Pocket.
• Trump’s Year in Review: A comedic “recap” runs through a fictional list of Trump’s antics: flipping off an autoworker, leaking Macron’s private texts, blocking Epstein files, and bizarre meetings about whole milk.
• Greenland & Macron Texts: Fallon satirizes Trump posting a baffling text from France’s President about Greenland, then “retaliating” with a made-up tariff on all Emilys living in Paris ([03:05]).

Memorable Quote:
“Speaking of Trump, today marks the one year anniversary of him taking office for his second term... We thought renaming the Gulf of Mexico would be the craziest thing... and now, he’s leaking Macron’s Greenland texts.”
— Jimmy Fallon [01:33]

• Interview with “Trump Pollster” Stephen Hunter: A bit lampooning poll spin; Stephen “explains” how 6% satisfaction with Epstein files release is “basically 100%,” employing deliberately ridiculous math ([03:45 - 05:31]).

Memorable Quote:
“If you take 6% and round up, you’re at 10%, which is halfway to 20%, which as everyone knows, is basically 25%. So that means one in four Americans are satisfied.”
— Stephen Hunter [03:54]

2. Warm-Up & Musical Comedy

[05:31 - 09:26]

• Indiana’s Championship: Fallon congratulates the Indiana Hoosiers for their win and jokes about celebrating in Bloomington, not Miami.
• Las Vegas Sphere Expansion: Jimmy and Will lightly tease the idea of two new Spheres in DC—“but they have to be blue.”
• Irish Drinking Song Segment: The Roots and Jimmy lead the audience in a tongue-in-cheek drinking song about football, Oscars, and marriage, calling back to classic pub sing-a-longs ([07:56 - 09:26]).

3. Interview: Will Smith — “Pole to Pole” & Facing Fears

[09:36 - 21:49]

• Adrenaline Traveler: Will details filming “Pole to Pole” for Nat Geo/Disney+, traveling from the South to the North Pole, and enduring extreme temperatures ([11:16 - 17:50]).

  • South Pole Temperatures: “It was negative 37... It stops feeling cold. It feels like fire. The opposite of cold.”
    — Will Smith [11:27]
  • Explorer Beard Ambition: Will jokes his main goal was to “have icicles hanging out my nose” like an old explorer ([11:49]).

• Daredevil Stunts & Denzel’s Wisdom: Will credits Denzel Washington for inspiring his adventurous phase, sharing Denzel’s concept of the “funky 40s” and “eff-it 50s,” about embracing new challenges ([13:23 - 14:32]).

  • “Everybody’s 40s are funky... then you get to your 50s and you just say, eff it.”
    — Denzel via Will Smith [13:28]

• Deepest Dive & Thin Ice Fears:

  • Will recounts a terrifying under-ice dive at the North Pole, getting lost beneath the ice and nearly panicking before finding his way out ([15:27 - 17:50]).

    Quote:
    “I put my mask back on my face and I was like, oh, no. And I was like, well, calm down. And I was like, if I get out of here, I'm going to only do black stuff from here on out.”
    — Will Smith [16:19]

  • Fallon jokes: “I promise, Lord. African American behavior from here on out.” [17:00]

• Amazon Jungle Adventures: Will describes milking a tarantula and boating with Amazonian natives on a hunt for an anaconda, all for conservation research ([18:07 - 19:44]).

• Confronting Snake Phobia, Live: Jimmy challenges Will to hold a live boa constrictor for 30 seconds. Will nervously accepts and succeeds, while panicked banter ensues ([19:55 - 21:13]).

  **Quote:**  
  “No, it’s moving. It’s constricting you right on your shoulder. It’s happening.”  
  — *Jimmy Fallon*, as Will holds snake [21:07]
  

4. Interview: Jennette McCurdy — Manifesting Success & “Half His Age”

[21:49 - 30:43]

• Breakout Memoir & Manifestation: Jimmy praises Jennette’s memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” with Jennette revealing she predicted its success in her manifestation journal:

  • “I wrote, 'I'm Glad My Mom Died is gonna become a pop cultural phenomenon.' So you put it out there.”
    — Jennette McCurdy [23:02]

• Viral Video: Jennette describes a viral celebratory video in which a loud confetti cannon gave her a genuine jump scare ([23:34 - 24:18]).

• Transition to Fiction: Now promoting her debut novel, “Half His Age,” she shares her lifelong love of fiction, admitting to writing a childhood “Harry Potter” knockoff starring the ‘sherbet bus’ ([24:28 - 24:47]).

• Old Scripts and Writing Years: Jennette and Jimmy swap stories of abandoned, cringeworthy screenplays involving monkeys and saving the rainforest ([25:30 - 26:54]).

• About the Novel:

  • “Half His Age” explores female rage, power, and desire through the eyes of a “very lonely and very ravenous 17-year-old girl” ([27:26 - 27:44]).
  • Jennette started the book’s concept while on a bullet train in Japan at 24 — it took eight years for the idea to return and two years to complete ([27:48 - 28:10]).
  • Humor in Dark Places: She emphasizes her love for comedy that brings light to heavy subjects—“making tragedy funny without watering it down” ([28:36 - 28:57]).

• Audiobook Pet Peeves: Jennette complains about narrators’ slow delivery:

  • “Everybody talks at a snail's pace... so my goal was to try to get people to listen to this on A1.”
    — Jennette McCurdy [29:13 - 29:46]

• Celebration with Noiseless Confetti: Jimmy and Jeanette joyfully flick confetti to commemorate her new novel going public ([30:13 - 30:39]).

5. Interview: Josh Hart — Knicks Life, Viral Dad Moments & Superstitions

[31:06 - 37:09]

• NY Knicks Review:

  • Hart is optimistic about the Knicks overcoming a rough patch; promises New Yorkers “that’s the goal” for a championship ([31:39 - 31:49]).

• Roommate Tales: Jimmy brings up teammate Jalen Brunson calling Hart a “hoarder”; Hart admits he likes keeping things (“That’s what a hoarder is,” Jimmy jokes) and that Brunson always raided his snack drawer ([32:04 - 32:33]).

• Kid at the Game Viral Clip:

  • Hart recounts the nerve-wracking end of a game when he had to urgently hand his son to Mitchell Robinson to reenter play — a moment that captured the internet’s affection ([33:15 - 34:44]).
    • “I just threw my kid to the closest person, and it was Mitchell Robinson. Not my first choice.”
      — Josh Hart [34:12]

• Parenting Chaos & Fashion Shows:

  • Hart describes the unpredictability of his twin sons on a children’s runway — adorable photos, but full of toddler chaos ([34:46 - 35:46]).

• Game Day Rituals:

  • Hart ritually eats Mike and Ikes before every game, a habit dating to his teens: “You will never see me without these”—he even became the “President of Kandy Operations” for the brand ([36:03 - 37:00]).

Notable Quotes

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:54 | Stephen Hunter | “If you take 6% and round up, you’re at 10%…basically 25%. So that means one in four Americans are satisfied.” | | 13:28 | Denzel (via Will Smith)| “Everybody's 40s are funky... then you get to your 50s and you just say, eff it.” | | 16:19 | Will Smith | “If I get out of here, I'm going to only do black stuff from here on out.” | | 23:02 | Jennette McCurdy | “I wrote, 'I'm Glad My Mom Died is gonna become a pop cultural phenomenon.' So you put it out there.” | | 27:26 | Jennette McCurdy | “Half His Age is an exploration of female rage and power and desire as told through the lens of a very lonely and very ravenous 17 year old girl.” | | 34:12 | Josh Hart | “I just threw my kid to the closest person, and it was Mitchell Robinson. Not my first choice.”| | 36:59 | Josh Hart | “You will never see me without these.” (about Mike and Ike’s candy) |

Key Timestamps

| Segment | Time | |-------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------| | Monologue: Trump, the cold, Macron texts | 01:10 – 05:31 | | Drinking song segment | 07:56 – 09:26 | | Interview: Will Smith—Pole to Pole, facing fears | 09:36 – 21:49 | | Interview: Jennette McCurdy—memories, fiction, “Half His Age” | 21:49 – 30:43 | | Interview: Josh Hart—Knicks, snacks, dad moments | 31:06 – 37:09 |

Episode Tone & Style

Jimmy and guests blend sharp political satire (complete with absurdist “alternative facts”), personal storytelling, and warm, playful humor. The recurring theme (from Will Smith’s “eff-it 50s” to Jennette’s comedic approach to trauma) is embracing life’s messiness, finding laughter even in the dark, and not taking oneself too seriously.

For Listeners Who Missed It…

This episode epitomizes late-night at its best: topical jokes, outrageous sketches, and authentic interviews. Guests open up about wild career turns (Smith’s arctic adventures), the struggle and payoff of creative work (McCurdy’s leap to fiction), and the juggling act of sports and parenthood (Hart’s viral kid moment). The comedic highlight is the affectionate absurdity with which Jimmy and his guests approach even the strangest of subjects—from milking tarantulas to recalculating poll numbers.

Guests’ Plugs:

• Will Smith: Pole to Pole (NatGeo/Disney+)
• Jennette McCurdy: “Half His Age” (novel, out now)
• Josh Hart: Catch him with the Knicks and on the NBA on NBC