If “Amazon Senior Vice President of Global Affairs Steve Belsky” looked famiiar to you after his photo was featured in Conan O’Brien‘s Oscars monologue last night, it’s not because you’ve been perusing photos Amazon’s About Us page.
More likely, it’s because you’ve seen him on one of O’Brien’s three late-night shows.
Hosting last night’s Oscars ceremony, O’Brien enlisted writer Dan Cronin when he took aim at Amazon’s creative takeover of the James Bond film franchise, using the monologue as an opportunity to break some (fake) news.
“Amazon has taken over the 007 franchise,” O’Brien began. “And they just announced the next James Bond: It’s Amazon Senior Vice President of Global Affairs, Steve Belsky!”
The broadcast then displayed the Belsky’s headshot through a Bond-style gun barrel POV.
Belsky, at turns out, is a fictional exec, played here by Cronin. Cronin has been one of O’Brien’s trusted writers for over twenty years, joining the staff of Late Night with Conan O’Brien midway through its run. He remained with O’Brien throughout The Tonight Show and Conan, where he regularly appeared on air (including as O’Brien’s fictional former warm-up comic Stanley Barkwell).
Cronin (who also made his TV standup debut on Late Night in 1999) was one of the credited writers for last night’s Academy Awards ceremony. He has also written for O’Brien’s turns as host of the Emmy Awards, MTV Movie Awards, and White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Cronin offered his own congrats to his Amazon exec doppelganger Sunday night on Instagram:
On TBS Dan was the waiter who never wrote down your order!