Jimmy Fallon and Taylor Swift both had surprise show-stopping moments at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards: Swift closed the VMAs by unexpectedly announcing her new album (later revealed to be called Midnights) while Fallon showed up with a beard and caused “thirst” and “confusion” online. Since that night, there have been a lot of Midnights developments and now Fallon has given them a proper run-down.
On The Tonight Show yesterday, Fallon made note that fans are finding Easter eggs in Swift’s social media posts, which prompted The Roots’ Tariq Trotter, playing along with the bit, to dismiss those findings as just “conspiracy theories.” Fallon then enthusiastically and thoroughly broke down everything, from the surprise announcement to the number 13 to the currently unknown song titles. He also noted Swift’s recent reveal that the backs of the special vinyl editions of Midnights go together to form a clock, which is thematically appropriate given the time-based album title. From there, he only went deeper.
Swift and Fallon have enjoyed a friendly relationship over the years, as Swift has appeared on The Tonight Show on many occasions. Perhaps her most notable visit came in 2017, on Fallon’s first episode since the death of his mother. Swift gave a surprise performance of “New Year’s Day,” which proved to be especially emotional for Fallon due to a coincidence involving the song’s lyrics.
Check out Fallon’s Midnights break-down above.