Throughout Jimmy Fallon's years as a talk show host, he has been given a lot of credit at times. For example, some praised the way Fallon interviewed Conor McGregor and his skits get a lot of love like when he and Paul Rudd recorded a song about Teenie Weenie Beanies.
On the other end of the spectrum, Fallon has also been the target of a lot of criticism including in the aftermath of when he interviewed Donald Trump. What viewers aren't used to seeing is Fallon getting called out in real time like when Dakota Johnson expressed her frustrations with him on live TV.
Why Did Dakota Johnson Call Out Jimmy Fallon?
In a lot of ways, the talk show format can lead to a lot of frustration for hosts, guests, and viewers alike. After all, when guests appear on talk shows, they typically only have enough time to tell a brief story and to take a moment to discuss their upcoming project.
In January 2018, the talk show format seemed to cause a problem for Jimmy Fallon and his guest at the time. The reason for that is while Dakota Johnson tried to tell a story, Fallon seemed to worry that she was getting off track and awkwardness ensued.
According to what Johnson told Fallon, she has been sprayed by skunks several times and so has her dog. Understandably, that revelation caused Fallon to ask why Johnson gets sprayed by skunks so much which resulted in her starting to tell a story.
As Johnson explained, she was staying in a lodge in Big Sur with her dog when the animal got sprayed. Johnson then revealed that there wasn't any tomato juice on hand to help her wash the dog, and she seemed poised to start telling more of the story.
Fallon then interrupted to ask Johnson what Big Sur is and said, "I'm sorry you were at a lodge, like a hotel?" After Johnson answered Fallon's questions, he then piped in again to summarize she was at a motel and there was a skunk.
In response to Fallon's interruptions so far, Johnson pointed out that the host seemed to be focused on weird details. "This story is going in a weird direction." As Johnson made that remark, Fallon never stopped talking as he then brought up that there was no tomato juice again while claiming the story is "bizarre".
Seemingly in an attempt to nullify Fallon's latest concern with the story, Johnson then briefly tried to explain the lack of tomato juice. "It's the middle of the night. The staff is not there." From there Fallon then continues to interrupt Johnson several times as she tried to continue her story.
At one point, Fallon then even tries to move the story along by saying, "And so, you go out to walk the dog?" When Johnson tried to answer that question, she got a couple of words out before Fallon spoke over her to ask if they let dogs at the hotel.
After every time her story was derailed, Johnson looked frustrated by all the interruptions, and it seemed like she couldn't take it anymore. As a result, Johnson pointedly asked Fallon, "Aren't you supposed to let people talk on this show?"
After being called out, Fallon initially responded by covering his face with his hands. He then proceeded to loudly exclaim, "If they know what they are talking about, yes! What the hell are you talking about?!?"
After fans learned about Johnson calling out Fallon, most of them stopped watching there. As a result, many fans have no idea Johnson called Fallon out again later in the same interview but in a less confrontational way.
At that point in the interview, Johnson began her skunk story pretty much from the start. Now that she was mostly able to speak without interruption, Johnson's story about her dog being sprayed turned out to be quite amusing.
In the end, Johnson tried to finish her anecdote by describing how to make a concoction that gets rid of the skunk smell. Fallon responded by saying, "I don't know man, this is such a bizarre story. We love you, and I saw you at the Golden Globes."
Instead of playing into Fallon's attempt to change the subject, Johnson remarked about how the host seemed to be over her story. "Oh, we're moving on. Ok."
In defense of Fallon's conduct in this interview, at a certain point, he may have been interrupting Johnson so much for comedic effect. On top of that, Fallon and Johnson were both laughing throughout their interview. Finally, it is worth noting that Johnson seems to relish awkwardness.
Dakota Johnson's Many Awkward Moments
As amazing as the moment that Dakota Johnson confronted Jimmy Fallon was, it is far from the only time she has been involved in a situation like that. Instead, Johnson seems to enjoy awkwardness and she even revealed how uncomfortable she was when she appeared in an episode of The Office.
While Johnson may felt weird when she filmed that episode, she seems to specialize in creating weird interview moments. Easily the most obvious example of Johnson making an interview awkward came when she was talking to Ellen DeGeneres.
When Johnson called out DeGeneres because of a birthday fiasco, many viewers were captivated by that moment.
On another occasion, things would get weird when Johnson and Andrew Garfield had a discussion on camera for Vanity Fair. Since Johnson and Garfield both worked on The Social Network, they began to reminisce about that experience. After Johnson praised Garfield, she then quickly transitioned to calling out Jesse Eisenberg even though she did provide him with an excuse.
"I remember sitting down with you guys when you were having lunch one day. And you asked me loads of questions, and you were really nice and Jesse didn't acknowledge me. He was probably in character."
Later during the same interview, Johnson explained that if she got hair extensions put in for industry events, things could get weird. Sometimes when Johnson was inebriated at those events, she would remove the extensions and stash them in the jacket pockets of the male stars in attendance. It is easy to imagine one of those male stars getting in trouble later if their spouse found Johnson's extensions in their pocket and wanted to know where the hair came from.
