On May 15, 2006, Jimmy Kimmel welcomed an animal wrangler onto his late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! who, at one point, brought out what appeared to be a large rattlesnake named Carl. “He’s actually really, really powerful, so we have to keep him kind of restrained,” the man told Kimmel. Just over 30 seconds after the snake was placed in front of Kimmel’s desk, Carl jumped out of his box and bit Kimmel on the arm. “Oh, s—t!” Kimmel yelled as crew members rushed the stage, and Carl was promptly taken away.
For the next minute and a half, the nervous crowd watched on as Kimmel was tended to by EMTs and rolled out on a stretcher. The camera then followed Kimmel as they wheeled him backstage and brought him out to an ambulance. “I told them not to have animals,” Kimmel said to one of the people just before being placed into the back of the vehicle. You can take a look at the full segment, courtesy of Dailymotion, right here.
Jimmy Kimmel Once Pretended to Get Bitten by a Rattlesnake, and the Bit Went Way Further Than Expected
Now, out of context, the clip looks pretty serious. However, as people who tuned in for that evening’s complete broadcast can tell you, Kimmel was perfectly fine after the incident because the whole thing turned out to be one big elaborate prank. You see, May 15 was also the night that ABC aired the Season 2 finale of Grey’s Anatomy. The entire sequence above was planned so they could get Kimmel to a hospital to interview cast members.
Once the show returned from the commercial break, Kimmel was joined in his hospital room by his band, who conveniently brought their instruments along with them. The show continued from there as Kimmel spoke with Grey’s Anatomy stars Katherine Heigl, James Pickens Jr., and Chandra Wilson. Kimmel’s musical guest, Ben Lee, performed from the set as well, after being presented as Kimmel’s hidden roommate. According to some sources, the snake even made a return later on to talk over the end credits, but of course, that footage hasn’t made its way onto the internet yet.
The post 20 Years Ago, Jimmy Kimmel Pulled Off a Fake Snake Attack That Ended on the Set of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ appeared first on VICE.
