Our Favorite Celebrity Pranks in Honor of April Fool’s Day
It’s April 1st, which means it’s the perfect time to finally pull that prank on your friends. Whether it’s setting back their alarm, filling their shampoo bottle with Nair, or if you're feeling messy, texting them a far too dramatic but 100% bold-face lie.
However, we thought it would be just as fun to look through years of celebrity pranks. Happy April Fool’s Day!
The ‘Jimmy’s’ Swap Shows
Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel surprised both their studio audiences when they swapped places last year on April Fool’s Day. Fallon flew to California to host ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live while Kimmel ventured to NYC to lead NBC’s The Tonight Show.
The pranks continued on Kimmel Live when Fallon's first guest was Justin Timberlake impersonating Matt Damon, a long-time frenemy of Kimmel’s. Later, Fallon interviews Kimmel's Aunt Chippy who was more ecstatic to see Fallon.
On the Tonight Show, Kimmel interviews Hugh Jackman and Bridget Everett. The Red Hot Chili Peppers served as musical guests for both programs. For a prank that was two years in the making, they managed to pull it off successfully and quite hilariously.
Hart v.s. Cannon
Comedians Kevin Hart and Nick Cannon prank each other like long-time brothers—and we can’t get enough. The feud began with Cannon sending Hart a furry, yet terrifying birthday gift at his doorstep. Now, the Llama might have been a cute gesture, but Kevin was not with the shenanigans. He went to the streets of LA to post a generous billboard offering his friend Nick's fathering services, providing his real number as well.
Cannon retaliated by sneaking into Hart’s private plane, covering it with a massive promotion for his own upcoming show. Currently, these two are continuing the theme of celebrity pranks, not with each other, but with others in their upcoming new show, Celebrity Prank Wars premiering April 6th, 2023. Guests on the show will include the Bella Twins, Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Lil Jon, Joel McHale, Chance the Rapper, Ludacris, T-Pain, Robin Thicke, T.I., and more.
Ellen’s 20 Years of Pranks
Ellen DeGeneres was on air for 19 seasons. And if there’s one thing her guest could never escape, it was a good prank. Ellen’s prank style was simple yet effective. The segment “Ellen in Your Ears” included the talk show host directing celebrities to do and say silly things to any and everyone around them.
Between going undercover as Target and Dunkin Donut employees, the team managed to prank fellow employees and customers. One of her oldest pranks consists of scary creatures popping out from her coffee table. Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and even Nicki Minaj had impersonators scare them out of their seats.
In the spirit of jumpscares, Ellen used to hide in her guest bathrooms and surprise them when least expected. From Taylor Swift, Lil Nas X, Jennifer Lopez, and BTS, her guests became a bit wary of entering the bathroom.
A Holiday Tradition
If there's anything the public loves is a good celebrity feud. Yet again, we have to include Jimmy Kimmel, due to his prank wars with the famous power couple John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. The duo and Jimmy have been neighbors for a long time and decided to have a friendly battle.
The actors set off this war when they snuck into Kimmel's home and generously decorated it for the holidays. Since then, the couple and host have pranked each other every year. Between literal gift-wrapped homes, and reindeer poop, Krasinki and Blunt orchestrated three nights of “prank-mas” which concluded in Kimmel’s car being wrapped and crashed. Jimmy retaliated by organizing a yard sale right on the couples lawn. In the spirit of this holiday tradition, we hope to see it continue this year.
1D Get a Pregnancy Scare
Way back in 2012, when One Direction was every teen’s crush. Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson decided to have a little fun with Nickelodeon and pull a pregnancy scare on their fellow bandmates, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne.
The prank started off nice and smooth when the pregnant producer chatted up the members until she began to have ‘contractions.’ The combined look of horror Styles, Horan, and Payne showed had fans crying. The three boys did their best to help the woman with breathing exercises. It was until the moment she yelled, “The baby is coming right now,” did the masterminds behind this prank reveal themselves.
A Kardashian-Jenner Family Meeting
During the 2020 lockdown, Khloe, Kourtney, and Kim Kardashian and Kylie, Kendall, and Kris Jenner took advantage of their close-quartered situation to prank their celebrity friends. The family gathered together around in silence staring down the celebs on FaceTime. The reactions were too priceless.
Friends such as James Charles, Jennifer Lawrence, David Dobrik, Justin Bieber, Luka Sabbat, Hailey Bieber, Tyler, the Creator, Dave Chappelle, and Jaden Smith. The most relatable moment happened when Travis ‘Taco’ Bennett was terrified like a child who got called to the principal's office. “Am I in trouble?” he asked when answering the family’s call. Hopefully, we’ll see more Kardashian-Jenner family pranks.
YOU GOT Punk’d
Created by actor Ashton Kutcher and film producer Jason Goldberg, the hidden camera reality tv series Punk’d aired on MTV in 2003. Hosted by Kutcher, he and the crew orchestrated many pranks on celebrities including Beyoncé, Zoe Saldana, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, Rihanna, John Cena, and Lindsay Lohan among others.
The first prank was aimed at singer-actor Justin Timberlake’s home, where he was led to believe that government agents were retrieving his valuables and foreclosing his home due to unpaid income taxes. Though the show was revamped many times, one of the most recognizable memes, actually came from a Punk’d episode where superstar Brandy ran away distraught from her brother Ray J being ‘“arrested.”
What was your favorite celebrity prank? Let us know in the comments below.