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Maya Rudolph shares her side of Jimmy Fallon's Prince story from the 'SNL' 40th anniversary party

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 6/18/21

Before Maya Rudolph tells you the truth, you should hear Jimmy Fallon's version of the story.

Fallon, former Saturday Night Live cast member and current host of The Tonight Show, was a guest on The Kelly Clarkson Show last December.

During his conversation with Clarkson, he revealed that he was singing on stage at the SNL 40th anniversary party in 2015 with Dave Chappelle, Bill Murray and Chris Rock when Chappelle encouraged Fallon to ask Prince to join them and perform. Fallon's recounting of that night begins around the 1:45-mark:

Now that you're up to speed, Rudolph was a guest on Clarkson's eponymous daytime talk show Thursday (June 17) and remembered things a little differently.

"Guess what?" Rudolph said coyly. "I'm not Dave Chappelle. It was me that said—it was me. Now listen, maybe Dave was there and said it, too. But I grabbed Jimmy. So what happened was, at the afterparty for the 40th anniversary, you have to understand that everyone that had ever been a musical guest or the host was in that room."

The Emmy-winning comedic actress: "All of your heroes were in the room. It was a sight that I had never seen, and all of us were gagging, as they say, in a good way. And so, when I got upstairs, my friend Questlove said, 'Prince is here.' And I was like, 'That's it. That's my goal for the night.'"

Rudolph then reiterated that she was the one who "grabbed" Fallon and convinced him to get on the microphone and call for Prince to come to the stage.

Whichever way you slice it, The Purple One gave an epic private performance. Prince would then tragically die April 21, 2016, at 57 years old.