Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty ImagesFred Willard may or may not have gotten caught with his pants down. But at least he's not afraid to laugh about it.
The 78-year-old funnyman made his first public appearance since his July 18 arrest for allegedly engaging in lewd conduct at an L.A. adult movie theater, popping up on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to explain himself and, unsurprisingly, make light of it.
Let the zingers begin!
"Jimmy, what do you want to talk about first?" Willard said dryly. "You know, let me say this: It's the last time I'm going to listen to my wife when she says, 'Why don't you go out and see a movie?'"
The Best In Show star then confessed what attracted him to an adult theater in the first place.
"I thought they were gone and I see this one; it had such a Polynesian, exotic look to it," Willard quipped. "I said maybe there's hula dancers in here. Maybe there's mai tais. I went in and I realized I was the only one awake and sober and conscious."
For his part, JImmy Fallon couldn't resist getting punny.
When he asked his guest whether the movie he was watching was The Firm, Free Willy or Anaconda, Fred joked, "Sadly it was Get Shorty."
"At the end of the movie someone gets whacked," cracked Fallon right back.
Willard—who was fired from his gig narrating PBS' Market Warriors in the wake of the bust but remains host of ABC's improv comedy series Trust Us With Your Life—then turned somber and admitted the matter was "very embarrassing."
"It's embarrassing as well. But let me say this: Nothing happened. I did nothing wrong. Everything is being sorted out as we speak," he said. "I have great respect for the authorities…but if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time everything seems suspicious…it is painful, but I'm trying to laugh the whole thing off."
They say humor is the best medicine.