Fans in Alabama who listened to the most recent episode of “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” probably thought the last name they’d hear would be Tommy Tuberville’s.

But while discussing the unique introduction of that episode’s guest Questlove with his cohosts, O’Brien randomly and amusingly referenced the Alabama senator.

Each celebrity guest always opens the show by inserting a word into the following sentence: “Hello, I’m [insert name], and I feel ______ about being Conan O’Brien’s friend.” While explaining that Questlove sought to break Jeff Goldblum’s record for longest intro in show history, O’Brien used an example for how it typically works and subbed in Tuberville’s name.

“Because most people say ‘Hi, my name is, you know, blank,” the host said. “I’ll just throw in, ‘Hi, my name is Tommy Tuberville.’ He was a great interview.”

O’Brien is, of course, joking about any previous interviewed he’d recorded with the former Auburn football coach. But his assistant and show cohost Sona Movsesian appeared confused and chimed in, “Who is that? Is that a person?”

“Yes,” O’Brien responded. “He’s the senator who’s holding up the entire military appointments of our government just so he can make some point about social justice, or something. I didn’t explain that well.”

“I know news,” Movsesian quipped, before O’Brien said she thought he was a children’s cartoon character. “Literally a tuba,” he said. “Here comes Tommy Tuberville!”

O’Brien then explained Tuberville’s ongoing hold-up of military appointments over his opposition to Pentagon abortion policies, which provide travel funds and support for troops and dependents who seek abortions but are based in states where they are now illegal, per The Associated Press.

“Time well spent,” producer and cohost Matt Gourley said about O’Brien’s attempts to contextualize Tuberville to Movsesian. “Do you want me to back up and not talk about Tommy Tuberville?” O’Brien asked.

Gourley then asked how to pronounce Tuberville’s name, wondering if it was actually “Toober-ville.” O’Brien said he thought the same until he listened to a podcast with the correct pronunciation. Gourley asked the name of the podcast, and O’Brien said, “It’s called ‘Mispronunciations.”

“Anyway, very controversial senator at the moment,” O’Brien continued. “And irritating a lot of people.”

The secretaries of the Air Force, Army and Navy recently said Tuberville’s hold on military promotions is “exacting a personal toll on those who least deserve it.” In an opinion piece in Monday’s edition of The Washington Post, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said Tuberville’s hold is “putting our national security at risk.”

Watch the clip from “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend” below. The clip starts around 2:45 into the video.

It isn’t the first time we’ve heard an Alabama connection on the popular podcast. Alabama-raised comedian Roy Wood Jr. recently appeared on the show wherein he discussed his set for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, his parents, his Birmingham upbringing and his early standup career. Listen to the full episode.

The main takeaway from their discussion was that O’Brien and Wood share a strong mutual respect, specifically for the impact O’Brien’s television show had on Wood’s standup career and, from the host’s perspective, Wood’s positive influence in the comedy world.

During another episode, the former late night talk show host and avid Civil War history buff told guest Ed Helms about a trip to Georgia that led to a hilarious encounter with Charles Barkley. “We pull into Atlanta and we go into our hotel, and we’re sitting in the lobby of the hotel, and a waiter comes over and hands us each an appletini…and we didn’t order these,” O’Brien said. “We said, ‘We didn’t order these appletinis,’ and he went, ‘Compliments of Mr. Barkley,’ and Charles Barkley was at the bar.” He said the former Auburn and NBA superstar later told him, “You look like a guy who would drink an appletini.”

More on Tommy Tuberville:

Conservative lawmakers join Tuberville in attacking ‘woke’ military policies

Tuberville says military ‘a little overloaded’ with 4-star generals: ‘I’m not changing my mind’

Navy now the third military branch without Senate-confirmed head due to Tuberville