Lainey emailed me yesterday about Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly popping in on Snoop Dogg’s set at Will Ferrell’s Best Night Of Your Life 2 benefit event for Cancer For College, which helps cancer survivors pursue higher education (because treatment costs often wipe out college funds, we’re the wealthiest nation in history and we’re doing awesome). The event was Saturday in LA, one day after Snoop’s 52nd birthday, so Ferrell and Reilly presented Snoop with a cake, and they performed “Boats 'N Hoes” from Stepbrothers together.
The Will Ferrell-Snoop connection is legit, they’re both fans of USC (of which Ferrell is an alum, fight on), and often watch football games together.
But what Lainey was emailing about John C. Reilly being there, too. The last time we talked about Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, it was in the context of Ferrell’s friend breakup with his longtime creative partner, Adam McKay. Lainey referred to this is as “middle-aged man beef” which is, objectively, the funniest combination of words. She wondered if Ferrell and Reilly appearing together was a sign, perhaps, of a thawing between Ferrell and McKay.
Probably not! If you’ll recall, Ferrell was upset that McKay didn’t cast him to play Jerry Buss in the drama series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (which was cancelled after two seasons last month). Reilly was cast to play Jerry Buss in the series, but he was only ever the man caught in the middle. In the original reporting, Ferrell said Reilly was the one to call him and talk it out, and it sounded back then like they were still solid. Ferrell’s issue was with Adam McKay, who never called him or made any attempt to talk to him about the casting decision. Anyway, good to see that Ferrell and Reilly are still cool, at least. Maybe that means that Stepbrothers 2 can still happen, albeit without Adam McKay. I am taking Saturday’s performance to mean that Will Ferrell got Stepbrothers in the divorce.
You can find out more about Cancer For College here.