Melissa McCarthy Revealed The Backstory Of Her Viral Mariska Hargitay Moment

In July, Oscar-nominee and Cat Oscar fan Melissa McCarthy went viral for a most unusual deed: She was spotted standing outside a Wienerschnitzel in Los Angeles holding a sign that asks drivers to pray for fellow actress Mariska Hargitay after she hurt her ankle. It was a nice Mad Libs news item, random but also heartwarming. And a month later, as per The Hollywood Reporter, she finally went into the backstory.

On Monday’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the actress said it all stemmed from Hargitay giving her crap. Hargitay had recently injured her ankle and she had been telling McCarthy about it over text. But, McCarthy admitted, she’s a terrible texter who forgets to check her phone. Eventually a flustered Hargitay texted her, “Oh, don’t worry. I’m just here in a lot of pain, recovering. I guess you’re too busy to respond to my texts.”

That did the job. McCarthy sprung into action, drove to America’s finest hot dog chain with a misspelled German name, and stood on the sidewalk with a sign that read “Honk if you’re PRAYING for Mariska Hargitay’s recovery.” Video of McCarthy waving the sign, to a symphony of honks, went viral and played the news. In short: Melissa McCarthy: bad texter, great friend.

You can watch McCarthy’s appearance with Fallon in the video below.