“Cardboard cutout,” “Carrie Lam” and “Conan O’Brien” are not phrases we thought we’d ever see strung into a sentence. But here we are today.
To make up for a sad, audience-less crowd, US television personality Conan O’Brien’s talk show has been calling on viewers to send in pictures of themselves. The show’s team, according to a Google form, would render the pictures into cardboard cutouts to fill the empty seats of the Los Angeles theater.
Spotted among the audience in Tuesday’s episode of the show was none other than Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.
OMG! Who did this?!
My favorite late night talk show host @ConanOBrien had a cardboard cut-out of #HongKong’s evil Chief Executive in his audience!
Watch and be amazed. Share this to the world! 😂🤣
We love you #Conan!! #StandWithHongKong #HongKongProtests https://t.co/DXWfiX1Ewg pic.twitter.com/194JklsadF
— 🇺🇦Hong Kong World City☔️ (@HKWORLDCITY) September 9, 2020
In the segment, O’Brien picks out the stone-faced cardboard cutout of Lam among a sea of animated expressions.
Mocking her stoic demeanor, O’Brien jokes: “This is the person I always make eye contact with when I come out to a show. This is the reaction that I’m looking at and wondering why, why did you even come to the show? Why do you even enjoy comedy at all?”
O’Brien does not appear to recognize Lam, but he perhaps hit the nail on the head when he quips that Lam looks like she’s “here to pass a death sentence.”
The comedian then takes the cutout and walks onto the stage with him, propping cardboard Lam on his desk as he takes a seat.
“Sometimes if an audience member isn’t truly being won over, you can get ’em by bringing them up on stage with you. Does she seem any happier now?” He says as the camera zooms in on the cutout, Lam’s fingers interlaced in a fist while she stares unamused.
The picture in the cutout was screenshot from a video announcement when Lam announced the withdrawal of the extradition bill last year.
Coconuts HK reached out to the Chief Executive’s office for comment regarding the segment, but has not received a response at the time of writing.
