Tonight Show

The Yankees gave Aaron Judge 360 million reasons to return to New York, but it wasn't just about the money ... #99's adorable puppy is best friends with teammate and friend Anthony Rizzo's little pup, and the MVP couldn't split them up!

Judge -- who signed a 9-year, $360 million deal with the Yanks this offseason -- joined Jimmy Fallon on 'The Tonight Show' where he revealed Rizzo's dog Kevin was one of the reasons he ultimately came back.

Judge, whose pending free agency hung over the team as he met with different organizations who pitched him on leaving NYC -- told Fallon that Rizzo texted and called him daily, letting the slugger know he needs to resign!

But, that wasn't all Rizzo did ... the 4x-time Gold Glove first baseman pulled on Judge's heartstrings, constantly reminding him of the bond that his dog shares with Aaron's dog, Penny -- and it worked!!

AJ said Penny and Kevin are best friends, adding that Rizzo leaned into their relationship to convince him to return to the Yankees.

Following his MVP season, Judge was the hottest free agent in baseball, and former Yankees like Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher publicly said the team should do whatever it takes to bring him back.

Rizzo understood the assignment.

Jimmy Fallon did his best Joey Chestnut impression during last night's Rangers playoff game in NYC  ... the late-night talk show host dunked his hot dog -- bun and all -- in his beer before devouring both, and spilling everywhere!

'The Tonight Show' host was in the building for game 5 of the Conference Finals game between the NYR and Tampa Bay Lightning ... when Fallon found himself on the big screen at Madison Square Garden, hot dog and beer in hand.

Fallon, a NY native, has clearly seen a Nathan's hot dog eating competition or two in his time ... Jimmy softened up the bun using his brew, before it all went down the hatch.

Of course, if you've watched competitive eating, you know that's the preferred method for eating quickly.

FYI, Chestnut's record is 76 hot dogs/buns in 10 minutes. He routinely puts away over 70.

For Rangers fans, the antics off the ice were far more entertaining ... the team lost game 5 by a score of 3-1, and now trails in the series, 3-2. And, now the team must go on the road to Tampa ... where NY is 0-2 this series.

It's reminiscent of the New York Knicks fan a few years back who was captured on camera dunking chicken nuggets into her soda.

Hall of Fame QB now ... Emily Cooper's new love interest next?!?

Peyton Manning says that might just be his path ... telling "The Tonight Show" on Monday that after his hilarious "Emily In Paris" skit over the weekend, he could be getting a huge role in the next season of the hit show.

The NFL legend broke it all down for Jimmy Fallon ... explaining the reaction to his "Saturday Night Live" appearance has been so great -- it could lead to him rubbin' elbows with Emily on Netflix in France soon.

"I think I'm going to be asked to be in Season 3," Manning said. "Like, a big part."

Manning wasn't being entirely serious with the prediction -- but it certainly wouldn't be farfetched given the response to his "Emily In Paris" jokes on Saturday.

If you missed it ... Manning hilariously told Colin Jost that he missed NFL playoff games because he was binge-watching Season 2 of the Netflix show instead.

Manning fired off punchline after punchline about the show -- and even broke out a telestrator to explain it all. It was laugh-out-loud funny.

The wildest part about it all, though? Manning told Fallon on Monday he's actually never watched an episode of it!

Tiffany Haddish is laughing off her DUI -- well, sorta ... let's just say she's taking it in stride.

The comedian gave a little insight into what happened -- from her perspective, anyway -- during an appearance Monday on the 'Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon, to whom she described her Georgia bust with some humor to spare.

Jimmy asked if she was willing to talk about it, and sure enough, Tiffany was ... starting out the story by saying she'd been asking God for a new man in her life. Well, he answered her prayers, it seems, but might've overcompensated ... 'cause TH says she got more than she bargained for.

Instead of one man, Tiff says she was blessed with 4 ... and they were all in uniform -- which got a chuckle out of Fallon and the audience. She then says she's got a good lawyer and they're dealing with the sitch now, without elaborating much more about it.

TMZ broke the story ... Tiffany was arrested earlier this month when local residents in Peachtree City reported a driver who’d apparently fallen asleep on the side of the road. Cops eventually tracked down Tiffany's car, where they eventually got her in cuffs ... suspecting she'd been smoking weed. She was booked for DUI and improper stopping on a roadway.

Jay Leno's a well-known motorhead, but apparently he's a stuntman too ... based on this crazy footage of him gripping the nose of an airplane in mid-flight!!!

The former 'Tonight Show' host is on Wednesday's ep of "Spike's Car Radio" hosted by comedian and auto enthusiast Spike Feresten, and along with talkin' cars ... Jay reminisced about a fun, and seemingly risky, flight he took with friends.

Leno says they were on a small plane flying off the coast of Catalina Island, and he knew the nose of the aircraft opened up from the inside ... so he decided to give them a little surprise.

After opening the nose hatch, Jay was totally hanging off the front of the plane!!! It looks insanely dangerous, but must not be all that risky, at least to pilots.

Questlove says he had the time of his life DJ-ing the Oscars over the weekend, but his one regret ... he couldn't shoo away winners who took forever with their acceptance speeches.

We got "The Tonight Show" band frontman heading into work Tuesday at NBC Studios in NYC and he told our guy he was ordered by Oscars producer Steven Soderbergh to stand down on playing any kind of wrap-up-your-speech music.

The famous DJ said compiling his walk-off music was one of the first tasks he completed when he got the gig ... but Soderbergh, one of 3 producers of the Oscars, foiled the plan.

That's too bad ... 'cause Questlove said his playlist was tight and a perfect sendoff to long-winded winners.

All good though ... Questlove says he's been going to the Oscars for a decade now and really enjoyed the new format. So much so ... he said he hopes it's the new normal.

There were some pretty cool moments (albeit scripted) ... like when Questlove played EU's classic "Da Butt" and got Glenn Close to play along and dance her ass off.

Addison Rae says she loves and respects all the TikTok dance creators who made up the moves she taught Jimmy Fallon ... and she hopes they can work together following the controversy she and Jimmy have sparked.

We got the TikTok star out in L.A. Monday ... in the midst of her catching flak for her 'Tonight Show' segment Friday ... which has been criticized for stealing from Black entertainers without giving due credit.

ICYMI ... Addison performed 8 popular TikTok dances to teach Jimmy how it's done, but people -- notably The View's Sunny Hostin -- took issue with the fact it appeared the moves were hers, when they were not.

Addison tells us this was definitely not her intention, and that proper attribution was given on the YouTube video ... just not during the show.

Rory McIlroy -- one of Tiger Woods' best friends on the PGA Tour -- says Tiger is "doing better" after his horrific car crash ... and could be discharged from the hospital in the next week or so.

McIlroy made the revelation on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday ... saying he's spoken with Tiger since the 45-year-old was seriously injured in a rollover crash on Feb. 23 -- and is getting positive news from the golf legend.

"He's doing better," Rory told Fallon ... "Hopefully if things go well over the next week or so he might be able to get home and start recovery at home."

It'd be great news for Woods ... Tiger's right leg was severely broken in the accident -- requiring multiple procedures to fix the issues since.

McIlroy, though, said Woods has been in good spirits during his recovery ... even sending Rory encouragement -- and even some friendly trash talk -- over his performance at this past weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida.

"Even from the hospital bed," McIlroy said with a smile, "he's still giving me some heat."

Tiger has not spoken publicly since Feb. 28 -- when he thanked the pro golfers, including McIlory, who paid homage to him by wearing red and black during their rounds.

Here's Dave Chappelle hanging with David Letterman in Chappelle's hometown for what looks like a new episode of Letterman's show ... and possibly for one of Dave's socially-distanced comedy shows.

The two comedy giants shared a laugh and a cup of coffee Wednesday in Yellow Springs, Ohio, sitting on a bench outside Dark Star Books and Comics. You don't see this every day.

Chappelle and Letterman, who had a Chappelle-branded face mask hanging off his ear, were followed by a big camera crew -- which seems to indicate they're shooting an episode of Letterman's interview show, "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction."

However, Chappelle's been doing socially-distanced comedy -- which he's dubbed 'Chappelle Summer Camp' -- and Letterman popped up there too. It's unclear if Letterman actually did a little standup.

Chris Rock's already flown in for one of Chappelle's shows, which have featured Jon Stewart, Jon Hamm, Tiffany Haddish, Michael Che, Erykah Badu, Common, Donnell Rawlings, Talib Kweli and Michelle Wolf.

In any event, whatever Chappelle and Letterman are cooking up, it's sure to be funny!!!

It's officially open season on Jussie Smollett ... and Tracy Morgan is picking up where Chris Rock left off -- ripping the "Empire" star for a barely believable story about the alleged racist attack.

Tracy opened a fresh can of Jussie jokes ... saying he knew it was BS all along because "racist people don't be jumping nobody in a polar vortex." As he put it during his "Tonight Show" appearance ... there's no need to freeze your ass off when you can be racist in the spring!!!

He's also got beef with Smollett's Subway sandwich ... watch for his punchline.

The bust-on-Jussie train started rolling down the tracks Saturday night at the NAACP Image Awards, where Rock unloaded with the simple line ... "What a waste of light skin!!! You know what I could do with that light skin? I'd be f**king running Hollywood!"

Smollett walked on the 16 felony counts, but it's obvious comedians ain't gonna be as kind as Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

Michael Carbonaro might need to pull a rabbit out of his hat -- or from behind the counter -- 'cause he's heading to trial for allegedly screwing over the lady who created the idea for his hit TV magic show.

Carbonaro was sued in 2015 by producer Beth Einhorn, when she claimed he'd broken a verbal agreement that she says they struck in 2012, to create a show based on the popular 'Tonight Show' skit called "Magic Clerk" ... which she wrote and he starred in.

Best of Magic Clerk from Trickster Productions on Vimeo.

Einhorn claims she and Carbonaro entered into a 50/50 verbal contract to produce a spin-off series based on "Magic Clerk," which she says they called "TrickShow." It would've been similar in premise -- a hidden camera show where in-store hijinks fool customers.

Fast-forward to 2014 ... Einhorn says she discovered Michael suddenly had his own show, "The Carbonaro Effect" ... which Beth says is an exact duplicate of what they allegedly agreed to produce together. Einhorn claims Carbonaro peddled the show as his own thing ... without crediting or paying her a dime.

'TCE' went on to be a huge hit on truTV, and now the 2015 lawsuit is heading to a jury trial, which starts Wednesday.

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's Charles Barkley admitting he hasn't worn a pair of undies since 2008 ... AND NOT REGRETTING IT AT ALL!!!

"I've been 10 years without underwear," Chuck shamelessly said to Jimmy Fallon on Thursday's episode of the 'Tonight Show.'

"And, I feel good about it, Jimmy," he exclaimed!

The question was raised by Barkley's pal and "Inside the NBA" cohost Shaquille O'Neal -- who wanted to confirm a rumor he heard about Chuck's fashion choices below the waist.

The Round Mound of Rebound wasn't shy -- and explained:

"I thought they were unnecessary for space in the house. So, I gathered all my drawers together and had a big ole bonfire."

FYI ... Chuck's packin' a 6-foot-6, 252-pound (ish) frame into those underwear-less pants ... AND the dude lives in freakin' ARIZONA!!!!

You better come correct if you challenge Jimmy Fallon to a rap battle ... 'cause Jimmy just put one of Post Malone's artists in a body bag.

The 'Tonight Show' host wasn't playing around when he went rhyme-for-rhyme with Post's upcoming artist, Tyla Yaweh ... hitting him where it hurts with no regard for human life.

It all went down at Paddy Reilly's Music Bar in NYC after Post's appearance on the 'Tonight Show', and ya gotta watch the video ... Jimmy GOES IN, Tyla flops hard and Post bows down.

Ariana Grande did something she did not want to do today, but powered through in honor of Aretha Franklin and then broke down in tears.

Production sources tell us Ariana was scheduled to appear on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" Thursday ... but she was only going to do a comedy skit. She was not going to sing.

When she arrived on set, producers asked her if she would perform an Aretha song in honor of the late singer. Ariana told them she couldn't do it ... she was just too emotional in the wake of her death. She said Aretha was one of her heroes.

We're told Questlove then approached Ariana and convinced her it would be awesome for her to perform an Aretha song with the Roots.

Ariana changed her mind and opened the show with 'Natural Woman.' It's the first thing you'll see if you watch the show. Ariana brought the house down and got a standing O.

We're told when Ariana left the stage she broke down in tears.

Jimmy Fallon took one of his most popular late night games out of the studio and tried it live in the Hamptons -- and it was just as entertaining with way more booze ... we think.

The 'Tonight Show' host was hanging with his wife, Nancy Juvonen, Friday night at The Palm East Hampton, when he decided to belt out some Guns N' Roses to one lucky patron ... while everyone else in the place was watching and cheering.

Pete Davidson is clearly over the moon to be engaged to Ariana Grande -- and he let Jimmy Fallon know it.

Davidson was on 'The Tonight Show' Wednesday and was asked straight-up about his engagement. Pete held nothing back, saying "it's f***in' lit."

It's the first time either Pete or Ariana has spoken publicly about their engagement ... and, given the way Pete opened up, we're guessing it won't be the last.