Conan O’Brien Opens Up About Losing His Parents 3 Days Apart

Martin Holmes May 15, 2025, 9:24 am

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Conan O’Brien had a distressing end to 2024 as he lost both his parents just three days apart and had to evacuate his Los Angeles home due to the California wildfires, all while preparing to host the Oscars for the first time.

The former late-night host opened up to NBC’s Jacob Soboroff in an interview that aired on the Today show on Wednesday (May 14), where he described the “surreal” feeling of losing his mother and father in the same week.

Conan’s father, Dr. Thomas O’Brien, died at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, on December 9 at 95 years old. At the time, Conan was out of the country filming Season 2 of his HBO Max travel show, Conan O’Brien Must Go, when he received a phone call from his brother.

“I was in Austria when my brother Luke called me and said, ‘Dad passed,'” Conan told Soboroff. “And I took a van to a plane to another plane, just different airport hubs, got to Boston. And (I) walk in the room and my dad’s bed is empty, and my mom was in the bed next to him.”

The podcast host added, “And I could tell that she was going, which was surreal. And she passed within three days of my dad passing.”

Conan’s mother, Ruth Reardon O’Brien, died at her home on December 12. She was 92 years old.

While Conan was dealing with a double funeral for his parents, massive wildfires tore through Southern California, putting the star’s home in danger. He ended up having to evacuate his home, all while working on preparation for his Oscars hosting gig.

“Then the funeral became a double funeral, and the scramble to get that together, and all the emotions that come with it,” Conan shared. “And the minute Christmas was over, I was like, ‘Okay, you just have to get to work on the Oscars because there’s not much time.’ And the fires hit, and we were evacuated, and we’re living in a hotel, very fortunately. The fire came very close.”

Despite the chaos, Conan admitted that working with his writing team for the Oscars helped him with the grieving process.

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“I’ve known these people for decades, some of them, and they’re friends,” he said of his team. “And so the fact that I’m together with them, it sounds crazy, but it’s healing to be in a room with really funny people that know and care about me, and to be working on something that we’re trying to make that’s positive and life-affirming and silly. So in a way, it was good therapy.”

Conan hosted the Oscars on March 2, 2025, and received high praise for his performance.

“I wish my parents had been able to see the Oscars,” he shared before reflecting, “but they got to see a lot. They got to see a lot of cool things. And they were very proud, and so I had the knowledge of knowing that they saw a lot.”

He also said he felt his parents with him while hosting the ceremony, noting, “It fortified me to know that in some way they’ll be with me.”