If You’re Going To Reject John Mulaney, Then Reject John Mulaney The Way Stevie Nicks Did

To promote his new Netflix comedy special/throwback children’s variety show, John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, Mr. Spider-Ham himself dropped by The Tonight Show to tell a tale about the time Stevie Nicks rejected him. Not romantically, but for the Netflix special. Mulaney wrote a song for the Fleetwood Mac singer to perform, and it took him a month to finally get in touch with the “ghost in the wind,” as he referred to Nicks. But he finally contacted her manager, and as he told host Jimmy Fallon, “I said, ‘This is John Mulaney,’ and she went, ‘Oh, you’re that guy.'” Not off to a great start.

Nicks knew about the project, but, as her manager explained, she was on tour and had limited time for other commitments. Fair enough. But then, as Mulaney explained, “She said, ‘Also, Stevie listened to the song, and she doesn’t think it’s funny.’ And I said, ‘Oh, okay. Yeah, you know, the first answer was good enough.'” It only gets more uncomfortable from there, with Mulaney having to explain the concept of a parody song to the manager, and getting repeatedly informed that Nicks didn’t like what she heard. The story does, however, have a happy ending. Turns out, all you have to do to hang out with Stevie Nicks is ask to come to one of her backyard barbecues. Not the worst rejection.

John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch premieres on Netflix on December 24.