Cardi B Took One Look at John Mulaney and Saw Pet Shop Boys
When Cardi B met comedian John Mulaney, the Pet Shop Boys somehow entered the chat almost immediately. And really, once Cardi said it, there was no unseeing it.
The moment actually dates back to April 9, 2018, when Cardi made history by joining Jimmy Fallon as the first-ever co-host of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She was in full Invasion of Privacy takeover mode — her debut album had just arrived, she had revealed her pregnancy on Saturday Night Live, and late-night television was basically letting Cardi be Cardi.
Then John Mulaney walked out.
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Cardi Meets Mulaney
One late-night interview, one cardigan and one wildly accurate Pet Shop Boys comparison.
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First Came the “Cardi G” — Then Came the Pet Shop Boys Comparison
Mulaney arrived bearing a gift for Cardi’s baby: a tiny cardigan, which he naturally christened a “Cardi G.” Cute enough. But Cardi was apparently much more interested in the man delivering it.
She looked at Mulaney and announced, “You look British.” Mulaney, slightly unsure whether this was praise, accepted it anyway. Cardi then clarified the vision:
“Like the Pet Shop Boys.”
And scene.
It is such a perfectly Cardi observation because it is both completely unexpected and, somehow, weirdly accurate. Buttoned-up shirt, tie, slightly formal posture — suddenly John Mulaney is wandering around in the visual universe of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe.
Cardi Was Basically Running The Tonight Show That Night
This was not a normal celebrity couch appearance. Cardi spent the episode co-hosting with Fallon, delivering monologue jokes, playing Box of Lies, recording a voicemail greeting for an audience member, explaining her trademark noises and helping interview Mulaney.
She also performed “Money Bag” from Invasion of Privacy. The whole appearance captured that particular moment when Cardi’s personality had become as much a part of pop culture as her music — television producers could put her into a traditional late-night format and she would immediately bend the format around herself.
Mulaney, for his part, rolled with it beautifully. Later in the conversation the two compared prom stories, leading to another collision of completely different worlds: Cardi remembering limo drama while Mulaney revealed that his nana drove him to prom.
But for us, the Pet Shop Boys line wins. Of all the people Cardi B could have seen when she looked at John Mulaney, she somehow landed on one of INYIM’s eternal favorites.
Watch Cardi B Tell John Mulaney He Looks Like the Pet Shop Boys
INYIM’s clip revisits Cardi B and John Mulaney’s wonderfully strange 2018 Tonight Show meeting — cardigan gift, Pet Shop Boys comparison and all.
See the Full Cardi B & John Mulaney Tonight Show Interview Segment
The official 2018 Tonight Show segment includes Mulaney’s “Cardi G” gift, the Pet Shop Boys comparison and Cardi’s increasingly mysterious prom-limo story.
Sources: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon; Pitchfork; Stereogum. This archived INYIM post was restored and lightly reformatted for readability.
