On January 22, 2010, after less than eight months, Conan O’Brien ended his run as host of The Tonight Show—a headline-generating saga built on executive maneuvering, press statements, media punchlines, and a whole lot of frustration for the comedy legend. He earned loads of support and goodwill in the months that followed, including a particularly moving—and hilarious—gift from Robin Williams, whom O’Brien considered "the best talk show guest in the world."
But before we get to that, let’s set the stage by unpacking the talk-show drama. O’Brien had hosted his version of Late Night from 1993 to 2009, and he’d already been named Jay Leno’s Tonight Show successor back in 2004. NBC initially gave Leno a new program, The Jay Leno Show, at an earlier time slot, but they decided to move him back to 11:35 p.m., which would require bumping O’Brien a half-hour later. Refusing to take part in this experiment, O’Brien agreed to an exit deal with the network, and Leno resuming his old Tonight Show duties—until the latter passed the baton to Jimmy Fallon in 2014. After staging a 30-date comedy tour, O’Brien created a brand new TBS show, Conan, which ran for 11 seasons starting in late 2010.
Even though his career clearly survived just fine, the experience was still rattling for O’Brien, who considered hosting The Tonight Show a lifelong dream. As he recalled years later, Williams’ kind but unexpected gesture helped lift his spirits.
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"I was lucky enough to have some great interactions with Robin Williams before he passed [in 2014]," O’Brien recalled in a 2024 episode of his podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. "And one of the most memorable examples to me of his kindness is when I went through my whole Tonight Show debacle. Finally, the show is done, and I don’t know if I have a career anymore. What am I going to do next?…I’m lying on the floor in the living room of my house, and the phone rings. I pick it up, and it’s Robin Williams."
O’Brien, unsure how Williams even got his phone number, was surprised but delighted. "I’ll never forget—he goes, 'How are you holding up, chief?' I said, 'Oh, Robin, thanks so much for calling.' He said, 'Listen, you’re gonna be fine. You’re gonna be great. I know you like to ride bikes.’ Because he was really into bicycling…’Go down to the bike shop down in Santa Monica. I want you to go down there. I’ve set up a bike for you.’ I said, 'What?' He said, 'No, no, no. Just head down there. Ride around, and you’ll feel better.’...He said, 'I told them to paint it in all these crazy Irish colors.'"
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O’Brien also told the bike story on Conan during a tribute segment following Williams’ death, saying the gift exemplified both his "generosity" and "amazing spirit of fun."
"[It] was the most absurd bicycle you’ve ever seen," he said. "It was bright orange and bright green, and it had shamrocks on it…I didn’t know him well enough to justify this kind of [gesture]…so I called him up and said, 'Robin, I’m floored by this bike.' All he would say is, 'Well, I know you love to ride and you could use it.' He went, 'Does it look ridiculous? Does it really look ridiculous?’ I said, "Yeah, it looks ridiculous.’ He went, 'Good. Do you really look stupid riding it?’ I said, 'Yeah, I’m gonna look really stupid.' He’s like, 'Well, that’s good then!'"
"We know now that he had his battles," O’Brien added, "and I think it’s particularly courageous for someone to be that generous of spirit in the face of that kind of depression. Such a lovely, special man."
There are tons of stories out there about Robin Williams enriching people’s lives—from the time he bonded with a grieving gorilla named Koko to his fleeting but life-changing interaction with a struggling stand-up comedian after she bombed onstage. "[A]s the tears came anyway, she looked up and lo and behold, there was Robin Williams," wrote Cecily Knobler for Upworthy. "She stuttered, 'You. Are. One of my favorites. Ever.’ He looked at her, his blue eyes warmly crinkling and said, 'You were amazing.’ It hadn't been true. But the fact that he would go out of his way to make this total stranger's awful night into one of her best at that time, was just the kind of person Robin was."
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Ketel Marte was brought to tears during an MLB game after facing a shameful fan taunt.
Baseball manager's poignant support for a player brought to tears after shameful fan taunt
Whether they’re expecting perfection from their favorite players or, worse, behaving callously toward opposing teams, sports fans often forget that athletes are human beings. But athletic competition has the ability to unify and uplift, even amid such painful and unpleasant encounters. Take, for example, a major-league baseball game held June 24, 2025 between the home team Chicago White Sox and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
A shameful low point occurred when Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was at bat in the seventh inning. Per ESPN, a fan reportedly yelled out a comment regarding Marte’s late mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a 2017 car accident in the Dominican Republic. Team personnel, including manager Torey Lovullo, then requested the 22-year-old fan be ejected. (Though he was remorseful and admitted his actions were inappropriate, according to an ESPN source, he was nonetheless banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks.) "We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan," the MLB said in a statement. Marte reportedly declined to comment.
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While the fan’s behavior is inexcusable, it did spark a powerful and inspiring moment. After hearing the comment, Marte was visibly upset, prompting Lovullo to walk on the field, put his arm around him, and offer some words of encouragement. "[I said,] 'I love you, and I’m with you, and we’re all together, and you’re not alone,'" Lovullo said in a post-game interview, as documented by The Rich Eisen Show. "'No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you’re heard, that guy is an idiot.’"
According to Arizona Republic, Lovullo heard the fan’s comment but didn’t want to repeat it. “I looked right at [Marte] when I heard,” he said. “I looked right at him, and he looked at the person, as well. He put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure."
Elsewhere in the post-game interview, the manager called the moment "terrible" and reflected on why he stood up for Marte. "Fans are nasty, and fans go too far sometimes," he said. "I love my players, and I’m gonna protect them…I’ve known Ketel for nine years. He’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well and some really tough moments in his life. I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings, and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him."
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The following day, the Chicago White Sox X account sent out a message in support of Marte, writing, "We’re with you" and "Baseball is family." On The Rich Eisen Show, the show's host addressed the need to eradicate this kind of toxic athlete-fan interaction: "I was hearing [people saying], 'There’s no place for this in major league baseball.' There isn’t. There’s no place for this in our society. I understand that people are saying the MLB has got to do something about this. Fans have a right to heckle players—this is something that has happened forever…But there is a line."
In another recent, depressing sports moment with a beautiful coda, let’s look to Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the first quarter, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon—a devastating injury that could potentially sideline him for most of the 2025-2026 season. Following the game, in a lovely display of sportsmanship, Thunder point-guard and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went to the Pacers locker room to check on his competitor. In a press conference, he said, "You just hate to see it, in sports in general. But in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I can't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate."
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