Last week Jay Leno and The Tonight Show set the Internet on fire with a segment called “Pumpcast News,” featuring an incredibly charismatic couple singing karaoke at a California gas pump. As of this morning the video has over seven million views on YouTube, and it was so fun and infectious that even noted Leno bashers had to take a step back and admit that, yeah, the Tonight Show host had done something good.
Except for one thing: It was fake. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE. Fakey fakefakefake.
From The Smoking Gun:
Will and Monifa are both trained actors who founded a theater company in Chicago before relocating to Hollywood. Monifa, whom Chicagoist once described as a “Chicago actress of some reknown,” previously won a nationwide dramatic auditions contest by the cable network TNT.
More importantly, the “Tonight Show” never bothered to mention that Monifa appeared in a “Pumpcast News” segment broadcast more than two years ago.
In the original segment, Sims is seen at the same Burbank gas station where she was filmed singing with her husband. In fact, Monifa conversed with Stack both times while parked at pump number 16, the area used for the “Pumpcast News” bits. On both occasions, Monifa was in the same Chrysler sedan (she drove during the first taping, while her husband was at the wheel during the recent shoot). Additionally, she is seen wearing identical workout pants in each segment.
Her first appearance is posted below. This looks pretty lame, I guess, but couldn’t the show’s producers just have, like, missed it? I mean, it would be a hell of a coincidence, and sloppy work on their part, but isn’t that a possibility?
Asked why Leno made no mention of their thespian history, Will acknowledged that the show’s producers didn’t want viewers “to think we were actors and it was a ‘plant.’” Referring to Leno’s staff, he added, “They were like, ‘You’re a bartender and she’s a fitness [trainer].’”
You are now free to continue hating Jay Leno.
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This is why we can’t have nice things
Fake or not, I don’t care. I won’t let them take this away from me.
Leave it to Leno to plunge a knife deep into the heart of my faith in humanity.
oh goodie, I was hoping to start off my Monday on a completely sad note.
Why do people in California park with the gas cap on the opposite side of the car than the pump?
this is what I found most disturbing in both videos as well
We don’t. That’s just crazy.
I saw it explained on the original video from yesterday.
Certain gas stations, including Costco, are “one ways”. You can only pull your car in from one direction, so if your gas cap is on the passenger side of the car, you will find yourself having to do the same.
Now I gotta unpack my Leno knife and get pack to sharpening.
Everybody is completely missing the giant red flag here. There is a woman named MONIFA. That sounds like an off brand Japanese digital camera….
I don’t even want to start thinking about how someone landed on that name when the baby popped out.
A pair of relatives with names that included Mon-ifa, like Rosemary, but less common.
She was clearly named after Mo’Nique and Queen Latifa.
Rawhead, is it weird that I find that idea utterly fantastic?
Between this and the Nancy Grace debacle…i don’t know what to believe is real anymore on tv.
nothing on TV is real
Except Game of Thrones.
I love that you get all mad about this being fake but when Kimmel fakes it with a bunch of hipsters at Coachella, hilarious!
Is there actually any proof that’s fake or is it just some cynical douchebags assuming it is
@dissident: You mean like a quote from the actor saying “They were like, ‘You’re a bartender and she’s a fitness [trainer].’”
Of course I was all-in that this wasn’t a fake Friday, I could be wrong….
I’m talking about the Kimmel thing
@dissident – it was previously pointed out that none of the interviewees ever actually repeat any of the ridiculous band names. the interviewer has the mic pointed at the interviewees even whilst speaking to them (when it should be at their own mouth). both of these things suggest audio overdub in production.
and yeah, we got punked on someone mercilessly mocking hipsters? damn, that would have been pretty sweet, but joke’s on us I guess.
but give us an adorable, photogenic karaoke-happy couple? one that inspired hope and happiness in millions of lonely, depressed souls for even just 5 minutes?
yeah, that’s a bit upsetting.
also, Kimmel is at least tolerable – Leno is a bloated shitbird wearing an oversized asshat sitting in an enormous douchecanoe floating on dingleberry river. seriously, fuck that guy.
Yeah that’s not even close enough to being proof.
/shrugs
ok, man
Leno is an unfunny turd. Someone please show him the door immediately!
Honestly how you could not have watched that and thought “shenanigans” it was pretty obvious.
I know, right?
I wanted to believe. I WANTED TO BELIEVE, DAMN YOU.
Same here. Would have preferred to have remained ignorant.
I hope above all hope that when Leno dies, his obituary hilariously misspells his name as “Cunt”.
Ha ha, the joke’s on them, I never watched the video.
C’mon, people. A black guy knowing the lyrics to “Livin on a Prayer”?
Dead giveaway!
@IdleRich that was a Chappelle’s Show reference wasn’t it? good callback.
I knew something was up when they started to play the music for “Sweet Dreams” ten seconds after she requested it.
So you are telling me that a pair of struggling actors live in Los Angeles? This is an outrage!
Yeah… thats what I’m getting out of this.
I called bullshit when a black guy decided to go with a Bon Jovi song.
/das raycess
While I’m not crushed, this put a smile on my face on Friday and a frown on Monday. Just fucking terrific, the one thing I was missing from my Monday morning was some shitty news that made me question my intelligence. Fuck you, Jay.
The Chrysler Pacifica, while crappy, is in no way a sedan.
Don’t care, most of everything is fake. Believe it or not Belly Butt isn’t my real name. SHOCK!
Still enjoyed the clip.
I’m going to start saying “believe it or not, Belly Butt….” to people.
It’s like when someone tells you a spoiler about your favorite show and it’s a terrible twist. Who do you hate more? The guy who spoiled it or the people who did the story badly?
Nah, I have enough hate for everyone.
I like to spoil movies and shows with incorrect plot twists. Like, did you know at the end of Iron Man 3 it turns out that Jon Favreau is genetically 99% chimpanzee? It’s a pretty moving scene, RDJ breaks the fourth wall, looks right into the camera and says “We found the missing link.” And then a bunch of scientists drag Favreau off the set while he’s crying and screaming about the waffle sandwich he left in his trailer.
And now we’ve learned our lesson about Jay Leno and things that are actually funny.
It really doesn’t matter you guys. It’s called Hollywood for a reason. I know both of them and they are very nice people. Enjoy the clip and call it a day.