Comedian Conan O’Brien and actor Jeff Goldblum recently bonded over the fact that they both almost met legendary singer and songwriter Bob Dylan — but at the last minute, in both cases, something had happened to derail the meeting.
Goldblum, speaking to O’Brien on Sunday’s episode of the comedian’s podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” said that he had seen Dylan while he was shopping with his wife, former Olympic rhythmic gymnast Emilie Livingston.
O’Brien began by referencing a previous meeting with Goldblum when the latter had recommended a good place to go for jeans. “It’s like the John Wyck hotel, but for clothes,” O’Brien explained, saying that there was a place in the back where they also made hats.
“You know who I ran into there once? I was with Emilie, we went there to pick up a pair of jeans or a hat or something. And, um, it was just us and Bob Dylan,” Goldblum explained, to which O’Brien exclaimed, “Oh my God!”
Goldblum went on to say that he had been talking with someone about his own purchase when he saw Dylan walk in, and by the time he had wrapped up his own business, Dylan had already come and gone.
“He got his hats from that guy. I saw him outta the corner of my eye. I kept — I had really important business. I was talking about a hat and he came in and before I could say anything to him, he left,” Goldblum said. “But I think Emily, I don’t know if she said anything.”
O’Brien seemed surprised. “You didn’t go up to him?” he asked — and Goldblum replied, “No, no. I wish I had.”
The comedian then revealed his own almost-history with Dylan, saying that he had been backstage at a Dylan concert waiting to meet the singer when then-Vice President Al Gore had swept in and gotten all the attention.
“I went to see some concert of his and I was backstage and someone pushed me to the front of a line and there he was, the great Bob Dylan. It’s my one chance to meet him. All the conversation stopped and Bob Dylan looked at me and he went, ‘I know you from the TV,'” O’Brien said. “And just then, the other person backstage was Vice President Al Gore. And then I hear ‘Conan, Conan, it’s me Al Gore.’
“And I go, what? We’re all there for — We’re all there for a concert to see Bob Dylan performing. And he goes like, ‘I love rock and roll,’ you know? And suddenly he’s talking to me and, and I see Bob Dylan scuttle away. I was c***-blocked with Bob Dylan by Vice President Al Gore. That’s a true story!” O’Brien concluded.
Listen to the full episode here: