Last night, Jimmy Fallon made his return to the Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon for the first time since his mom passed away. His opening monologue was expectedly emotional as Fallon paid tribute to his mother and recounted how his mother used to always squeeze his hand when he was younger and say, “I love you.”
Through tears, Fallon told the audience about one of his last moments with his number one fan:
“Last week I was in the hospital, and I grabbed her hand and squeezed. ‘I love you.’ I just knew we were in trouble.”
You can watch the video here:
Fallon’s crew decided they wanted to do something extra special for his first show, so they decided to ask Taylor Swift to perform. What they didn’t expect was that her appearance would be even more special than they thought.
According to Mike DiCenzo, one of the show’s writers and producers, everyone was struggling with the death of Fallon’s mother.
It was a really tough day for our whole staff. A lot of us knew his mom Gloria, and she was the best. The best. She loved the show, she loved all of us, and most of all, she loved Jimmy.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
They talked on the phone every day. As Jimmy said, she was his biggest fan.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
And as @Questlove said, Jimmy is not only our boss, he's our family. We love him. So we were devastated for him last week, and we were feeling for him today.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
I'm sure today was especially tough for Jimmy. The fact that he came out, stood there, and did a normal monologue for the crowd is a testament to how strong he is.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
But at the desk, you could hear his voice break when talking about our musical guest Taylor Swift, and that's because he knew what he was about to say…
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
Jimmy's words about his mom were beautiful. "Mom, I'll never stop trying to make you laugh. I love you." I was crying. We all were.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
The story about his mom squeezing his hand 3 times to say "I love you" when he was a kid, and then him squeezing her hand in the hospital – he hadn't told any of us that story… More on that in a second.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
And here’s where Taylor Swift comes in.
First, a quick word about Taylor Swift. She was not scheduled to do our show today. But we wanted something special for this first show back, so we asked her on a complete whim, since she had been in town doing SNL. She said yes with zero hesitation.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
She sang "New Year's Day." No one had heard it. Suddenly she sings the line, "Squeeze my hand 3 times in the back of the taxi." I nearly gasped. Tears. I think everyone in the audience started sobbing.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
I could see Jimmy silhouetted at his desk dabbing his eyes with a tissue. We all lost it. It was a beautiful coincidence in a beautiful performance. "Hold on to your memories, they will hold on to you," Taylor sang.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
All the emotion on the show was 100% real — Jimmy’s, the crew’s, and even Taylor’s.
That hug between Jimmy and Taylor after the song was 100% real emotion. Whatever you think of Taylor, she did something beautiful for Jimmy and our show today, and we're forever grateful.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
Thank you to Taylor, the Roots, Higgins, our whole staff and crew, and to all the FalPals, fans, and everyone who reached out to and supported Jimmy and his family. I can tell you it meant everything to him.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
One last note: our show was right on time today, but we edited out a minute to leave room for Jimmy high-fiving audience members during the end credits. It was Gloria's favorite part of the show.
— Mike DiCenzo (@mikedicenzo) November 14, 2017
You can watch Taylor’s performance here, including the part where she huge him:
Honestly, the whole thing is incredibly touching. Say what you want about Taylor Swift, you can love her or hate her, but you have to admit that this moment felt very raw and real, and what she did probably meant a lot to Fallon. And for that, I have to respect her. 
