With a little help from a BYU fan, Jimmy Fallon fulfilled his promise to don a red Utes hat.
According to social media posts from Mike Headrick, a KSL-TV anchor, Fallon will appear in the hat on the channel five newscast on Tuesday at 10 p.m. Headrick, a BYU alumnus, tweeted Sunday, “Hey @UUtah sometimes it takes a @BYU guy to get it done!” along with a screen grab from the soon-to-air show.
The U shared the image on Facebook, calling it a “Valentine’s Day present to us.” More than 70 students and alumni commented, and the post has more than 4,000 “likes.” One person responded that the hat “looks great on him,” while others thanked Fallon for following through.
The comedian and “Tonight Show” host accepted the challenge and the hat from Jan Krystkowiak, wife of Utes basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak, at the Dec. 19 game against Duke. Fallon, purportedly a Blue Devils fan, agreed to wear the red hat “if they win” – which the Runnin’ Utes did in overtime at the Madison Square Garden match-up, beating the East Coast team 77-75.
But many questioned whether Fallon would keep his promise after waiting about two months to see the red hat — the university’s Facebook account advised Fallon in January not to “let this be in your Box of Lies,” referring to a game of deception often played with guest stars on the show.
Sandie Neaman Tillotson videotaped the promise in December, capturing Fallon in a festive holiday sweater, and it was shared widely on several U social media accounts. Since then fans have tweeted #wearthehat, urging Fallon to stay true to his word, more than 400 times.
The expression, though, is now past tense as the U tweeted Sunday night: “How about that, Jimmy wore the hat.”
@CourtneyLTanner