Comedian and television host, Conan O'Brien. Photo: wiki commons.

Following Israeli media reports in May that talk show host Conan O’Brien was rumored to accompany pop icon Madonna on her visit to the holy land – where she kicked off her MDNA world tour – the origin of those reports is now clear. While Conan was indeed away during the last week of May, on a private visit of his hometown of Boston, his crew flew to Tel Aviv.

Earlier this week, the TBS funnyman showed a special report, in a segment that “tackled” the ongoing political tension between Israel and Iran, which featured footage shot in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The special report features comedy website Funny Or Die’s own “Billy on the Street” host, Billy Eichner, in his sophomore sketch on “Conan”.

Eichner previously covered last February’s Super Bowl XLVI for O’Brien, and in a twist focused on Madonna’s much publicized halftime show, stated “I hate football!”. Needless to say the current events were not the topic this time around as well, but rather the launch of Madonna’s tour.

In the new sketch, Eichner starts off abruptly addressing people on a New York City street, asking for their thoughts on the Iranian nuclear threat, but soon changes the subject to his favorite topic – Madonna. He then travels to Israel to get a closer in depth view of the excitement, or lack there of, ahead of Madonna’s concert. He even sneaks backstage and grabs one of her boots.

And if the momentum of airing the report seems a little too late, as the show actually took place four weeks ago, the promoters intent is probably to remind US audiences that the material girl will hit North American stages in the fall.