Arsenio Hall has seen it all.
Host Arsenio Hall speaks onstage during “The Arsenio Hall Show” panel discussion at the CBS, Showtime and The CW portion of the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association tour. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Ahead of the release of his new, self-titled memoir, which comes out on March 31, the late-night host has recounted some of the craziest stories from his time on TV to USA Today. One of those stories involved action star Steven Seagal, who had arrived for the show via helicopter. “They open the door, and he comes out, going, ‘Hey, young man, Happy Birthday,'” Hall said. “Everyone else took limos or nice cars.”
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 17: Arsenio Hall performs his stand-up comedy routine at the David Copperfield Theater at MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on January 17, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
While filming, Hall was surprised to feel a certain bulge while greeting Seagal with a hug. The “Above the Law” star had brought his gun. “I dapped him up, and I thought, ‘This motherf—– is packing.’ I never got it. What’s up with bringing your gun on the air?” Hall recalled.
Seagal wasn’t the only notable guest Hall had on his show. In 1992, Hall had on Bill and Hilary Clinton, a moment that may have swayed that year’s presidential election. In his memoir, he wrote that Clinton told him on Air Force One years later, “Without your help, I might not have become the 42nd president of the United States.” Hall also invited nominee George H.W. Bush on the show, but the then-president declined.
Eddie Murphy, left, and Arsenio Hall appear in a scene from “Coming 2 America.” (Quantrell D. Colbert/Paramount Pictures via AP)
Before he was a late-night host, Hall starred alongside Eddie Murphy in “Coming to America.” On one of Hall’s days off from filming, Murphy and director John Landis got into such a big fight that Landis quit the project. That night, Hall went to Murphy’s New Jersey home to give him support and give him a little marijuana. “I taught him how to inhale; that was the first time he ever smoked,” Hall said. “We never discussed what happened with him and John Landis. I think two days later, they talked and worked it out. And we finished ‘Coming to America.’ But that was a crazy day.”
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 13: Comedian and talk show host Arsenio Hall hosts the 20th annual Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant at The Pearl concert theater at Palms Casino Resort on July 13, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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