Look, we don’t like this any more than you do, but it’s that time of year when we’re compelled to discuss Jimmy Fallon’s holiday music career.
As you may recall, in 2024, the late night host went all out in his efforts to promote a first-ever Christmas album, Holiday Seasoning, even dedicating multiple Tonight Show segments to in-depth discussions of the record – at least one of which ended with Fallon literally holding up a QR code for the camera, thus enabling people to purchase the album before coming to their senses.
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Fallon’s Christmasy side hustle wasn’t limited to music, either. He also sold Holiday Seasoning-branded jigsaw puzzles and oven mitts, plus a $100 Christmas sweater with his face slapped on it. Then there was “Jimmy Fallon’s Holiday Seasoning Radio” channel on SiriusXM, and the fever dream of a TV special Jimmy Fallon's Holiday Seasoning Spectacular, in which Jimmy discovered the magic of Christmas by visiting a handful of celebrity-filled windowless rooms.
But just when it seemed as though Fallon was finally done wringing every last cent out of the holiday, he’s now added another holiday song to his year-old album.
Last week on The Tonight Show, Fallon revealed that he had recorded a new track called “Ugly Sweater” with country singer Carter Faith. Oddly, the inspiration for the tune was a celebrity anecdote from 2018 that in no way involved Jimmy Fallon; the time Jake Gyllenhaal and Hugh Jackman pranked Ryan Reynolds by inviting him to an “ugly Christmas sweater” party, in which he turned out to be the only one wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. This in all likelihood was as insufferable as it sounds.
As Fallon explained on his show, he decided to turn this story into a “romantic comedy song” in the style of country music legend Conway Twitty. And, yes, a QR code was part of the announcement.
Sure enough, on his Thanksgiving episode, Fallon dropped a music video for the new song based on the premise that arguably already maxed out its comedic potential seven years ago. In it, Fallon attends a holiday party and receives mockery for his hideous sweater from everyone except for Faith. So it’s kind of like the Reynolds prank, except it involves the 51-year-old Fallon hitting on a 25-year-old while downing cocktails.
Now the song is the lead track on the new “Sweater Deluxe” version of Holiday Seasoning, and you have to imagine will soon inspire a landfill’s-worth of ill-conceived yuletide merchandise.
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