{"id":819371,"date":"2026-07-22T20:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/819371\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:48:10","slug":"conan-obrien-debuts-a-new-flat-hairdo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/819371\/","title":{"rendered":"Conan O\u2019Brien Debuts a New Flat Hairdo"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you\u2019ve been rocking the same hairstyle<\/a> for over 30 years, you can\u2019t just show up at work one day looking totally different<\/a> and not say a word about it. Well, technically you can do that, but people are going to have a lot of questions. Such was the case this week with Conan O\u2019Brien, who appeared on the latest episode of his podcast, Conan O\u2019Brien Needs a Friend, with his signature ginger pompadour slicked back.<\/p>\n

The episode opened with O\u2019Brien sporting his classic look in the intro before it cut to his interview with comedian Molly Shannon. For the entire 45 minutes of chatting, neither said a thing about O\u2019Brien\u2019s hair. Not a joke was cracked, not even a compliment was offered on how brave one has to be to debut a new hairstyle in such a public forum.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not as though O\u2019Brien\u2019s hair is just a little different, like he was feeling too lazy to style it that day. It\u2019s very intentionally slicked back and flat. Was he shooting something that day that required the look? Is he, at 63, exploring new modes of self-expression? Did his Dyson break? In the comments on O\u2019Brien\u2019s Instagram post about the episode, one person compared him to Paulie Walnuts from The Sopranos, and another suggested this was O\u2019Brien trying out an \u201cIrish mobster\u201d look. One commenter just cut to the chase and said what everyone else was thinking: \u201cGirl talk to us about this hair!!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans didn\u2019t have to wait long for answers. On Wednesday, Entertainment Weekly<\/a> published a clip from the podcast in which O\u2019Brien explained why it looked like he just got out of the shower. It turns out he got a really bad scalp sunburn at President Obama\u2019s library opening.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien told his co-hosts, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley, that he had attended the opening of the Obama Presidential Center a week prior and was feeling pretty smug about remembering to put sunscreen on his face. (After the \u201cthree-hour plus\u201d ceremony, O\u2019Brien recalled that Stephen Colbert and David Letterman were sporting \u201cbright, bright red\u201d faces.) A few days later, however, he started feeling \u201clike my skull is on fire, and then two days after that, my [scalp] is really itchy, and whenever I itch it, it looks like a snow globe.\u201d O\u2019Brien described the situation as \u201cwhite freckled confetti \u2026 pouring off of my head. It\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

After \u201cgoing crazy\u201d wondering what was going on, someone finally told O\u2019Brien that he had a sunburn on his scalp. The remedy for that is, apparently, rubbing oil onto your head. Unfortunately for O\u2019Brien, he forgot he was going to be on-camera. \u201cI come in and I look like I\u2019m in Sha Na Na. I\u2019m a grease ball. I\u2019m so greasy,\u201d he said. He went on to compare himself to Frankie Valli, Kenickie from Grease, and Gordon Gekko from Wall Street \u2014 all pretty accurate assessments.<\/p>\n

So, there you have it. O\u2019Brien got a really bad sunburn, and the rest of us got a reminder that the sun can and will get you wherever you don\u2019t apply SPF. Luckily for all of us, they make sunscreen mists specifically for your scalp. Maybe Conan will keep that in mind the next time he decides to sit in direct sunlight for nearly four hours.<\/p>\n

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