Kalen?
Uh-huh.
What will we be doing today?
Well, this year has been an incredible year,
and so I want to share some of my favorite moments.
Ah!
This going to be so much fun.
[CLAPS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh!
Jesus, take the wheel.
Fried milk.
Just when you thought you had seen it all, Jesus.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Fried milk is definitely my ultimate favorite OMKalen.
Let me give a little back story on that
shoot because when I posted it and I was reading the comments
everybody was like, what you been smoking?
What you been drinking?
This is what happened, y'all.
I think the call time for that day was maybe like 9:00 AM,
but I got here like 7:00 AM.
We shot the first one, which wasn't that one.
And then we took a break but then
we were waiting on lunch to come.
And so we-- it got pushed back even further,
and I think we didn't start shooting maybe
until like 2 o'clock.
I was so damn out of it.
I was so out of it.
And at that point, I was just like, you know what?
[BLEEP] it.
[LAUGHS] Let's talk about this stove top because I said--
before I said, y'all this stovetop don't be working all
the time.
It be cutting off and then let's also look at another clip
that's not on the list, Marshmello,
when we tried to make the Rice Krispie treat.
Let me turn this up a little bit.
Excuse me.
OK.
Is it on?
We turn on the thing and what happens?
It turns off.
So guess what's not hot?
Neither the oil or the chocolate is melting.
What the hell?
Boom, bam, diggity.
But now we got a new one coming next year.
Would you say that fried milk is the grossest thing
you've tried on OMKalen?
I think the nastiest thing that I
had was that potato salad cake.
That's how you eat that right there.
[LAUGHS]
Uh-uh.
Thing was so grainy.
That was absolutely disgusting.
It didn't-- that salt and pepper you couldn't even taste it.
Yeah, that was trash.
Ah, yes!
The Beyonce performance on the Halloween show!
Oh my goodness!
Literally iconic and honestly a labor of love
many years in the making.
[MUSIC - BEYONCE, "RUN THE WORLD"]
(SINGING) Who run this motha?
Girls.
Who run this motha?
Girls.
Who run this motha?
Girls.
And I think I was asked to do it because of my Beyonce tribute
video that I did for Beyonce's birthday.
I think it was because I had done that
and then it was like that had went viral
and so many people were talking about it.
And another reason why the Beyonce performance was
so special for me-- and a lot of people
don't know this because I deleted all the evidence once I
started working at Ellen.
But in high school I used to produce and direct
this thing called the poetry slam, right?
And I always--
I know.
People are going to judge me.
I always reserved the last 15 minutes for me
to do a Beyonce performance.
I used to cast dancers, everything,
and I did it literally from my sophomore year
to my senior year.
It was just crazy to me that I had done that for so many years
and such-- like just in my high school and the fact
that I was able now to do that on national television
was really just very full circle for me.
You did something pretty major.
Something pretty major happened, right?
I heard this familiar voice say Kalen!
And next thing I knew, baby, it was mother Oprah.
Wow!
[CROWD CHEERING]
Yes, it was.
Stop!
Hi!
How are you?
Oh my gosh.
You are so funny.
Oh!
You say the thing we're all thinking.
Yes!
You're so authentically yourself.
You're going to go such a long way.
Thank you!
This is what made the Oprah moment so special, the fact
that she genuinely knew who I was.
Oh my gosh.
Why am I starting to cry?
I literally never cry.
Um.
Why am I crying?
[SOBS] So when you have someone like Ellen and Oprah
who are literally icons that have paved
the way for so many people.
For me for a long time I used to think
that the food videos were just so small,
and just such a small part of life.
And to have someone of her talent, and success,
and accomplishments and for her to just embrace me--
if there was any time that I ever
doubted my ability, or my talent,
or what I was capable of, it was that moment
that really just reassured me.
And I think that's probably the most beautiful thing
about that.
Oh my gosh.
So this was my one year anniversary
of being on the show and being hired here
that Ellen had me on.
I think we got so lucky by finding you and signing you
because we are so happy.
Thank you.
I love seeing you around here.
You're fantastic.
Thank you so much!
No, you really are.
I think you've kind of just really surprised all of us.
You just keep stepping up and impressing us more and more.
I think what I love the most about being on the show
is that--
especially now, it's like when I go out there
and the audience-- like people will stand up or cheer.
There's something just very special about that.
The way that it just--
it makes you feel like you just have a bigger purpose in life.
When people ask me about my job, and where I would work,
or where would I want to work, I always
say that there's no place I would rather be.
Moving to LA was hard because I came by myself
and nobody was necessarily with me,
and I had to kind of figure it out.
But I honestly can say that I found my family here.
I think I work with some of the most talented and amazing
people that make so much magic.
Knowing that, Mama E, the one, the only, the incomparable,
Ellen DeGeneres, believes in me is that a lot of times I'll
forget it.
I forget who she is, and I think that's the magic of who she is.
She has an ability to make you feel on the same level as her,
and she's so personable that you forget
that she is this trailblazer, and this icon, and this legend.
And when you have someone of that magnitude put
so much trust and belief in you when you-- all you
had to speak for your name was three videos on the internet.
This place took me at a time where
I didn't know what was next and changed my life.
And I will continue to fight, and work,
and strive to be bigger and better because I don't
want any of this to go in vain.
And that is how I can pay that back.
2019 is coming to a close, which is also the close of a decade.
And I thank every single person for believing in me even when
times when I don't believe in myself.
And because of that just know that Kalen is not
going anywhere.
Kalen is not changing, and Kalen will
do whatever he can to make sure that I make everyone proud.
I will give every ounce, every part of my being to make sure
that I entertain you.
And now in this new decade it's only up from here.
I think that's a wrap on OMKalen in 2019!
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Three, two, one, smile.