Conan O'Brien in Cuba: rumba, cigar-rolling and Spanish lessons

umbertino · March 5, 2015

A late-night US talkshow has not broadcast from Cuba since 1959
Says special was thrown together: ‘We didn’t really tell anybody about it’

Thursday 5 March 2015 14.07 GMT

With a white suit and matching fedora topping his famous carrot-colored coif, Conan O’Brien welcomed viewers on Wednesday night to the first US talkshow to broadcast from Cuba since the embargo began.

The special Cuba episode of O’Brien’s eponymous show Conan aired on TBS and featured the host ambling through the streets of Havana as he took lessons in rumba, cigar-rolling and Spanish.

US president Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raúl Castro, announced in December that the two countries planned to re-establish diplomatic ties. Though relations are starting to thaw, Americans still face tight restrictions if they want to travel to Cuba.

“This is a very historic time,” O’Brien said on the show. “Relations between Cuba and the United States are finally starting to thaw. I thought this was an amazing opportunity for me to come to Cuba, talk to the people and get to know them.”

Many journalists have broadcast from the country since the US embargo began in 1962, but a late-night TV host has not broadcast from the country since 1959. In February of that year, Jack Paar interviewed Fidel Castro from a Havana hotel. Paar was sharply criticized by some for putting a communist on the national stage, but O’Brien has largely avoided such criticism.

O’Brien and his crew travelled to the country over the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend in February for four days to shoot the special. The trip was not announced until production had nearly wrapped.

O’Brien told the LA Times that production of the special was thrown together and that they “didn’t really tell anybody at Turner [TBS] we doing it”.

While the show broadcast on TBS, O’Brien shared some of his favorite moments from the trip on Twitter:

Conan O'Brien ✔ @ConanOBrien Follow

An iconic American writer known for his rugged manliness poses with Ernest Hemingway. #ConanCUBA

5:55 AM - 5 Mar 2015

Conan O'Brien ✔ @ConanOBrien Follow

Shared a lot of laughs with the kids down by the sea wall in El Malecon. #ConanCUBA

5:49 AM - 5 Mar 2015