Nikki Glaser ‘embarrassed’ over sharing Leonardo DiCaprio pasta gift story after Golden Globes joke

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Comedian Nikki Glaser now feels it might have been better to not reveal the gift Leonardo DiCaprio sent her after she joked about his 1991 'Teen Beat' magazine at the 2026 Golden Globes.

DiCaprio’s response turned out to be simple, interesting and hilarious: he sent pasta. Glaser, however, said she wasn’t trying to make it sound like a big deal, adding that she had only mentioned it as a casual story during her appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s show.

The actress-comedian also shared that she sent flowers to everyone she included in her Golden Globes jokes as a goodwill gesture. According to Glaser, DiCaprio was the only one who responded with a return gift.

Nikki Glaser reveals why she is 'embarrassed' about Leonardo DiCaprio's gift 

Nikki Glaser, who hosted this year’s Golden Globes for the second time, spoke about the attention the story received. Speaking to E! News at the 2026 TIME100 Gala on Thursday, April 23, she said, “Honestly, the amount of press it got, I was a little embarrassed,” adding, “Like, ‘Oh, he's gonna think that I'm just bragging about it.’”

“I was just trying to come up with a funny story for Fallon,” she laughed. “I only have a few.” The comedian, who was recently named one of TIME’s Most Influential People of 2026, said the moment was simply meant to be a lighthearted anecdote.

Nikki Glaser opens up about Leonardo DiCaprio's gift after Golden Globes joke

Glaser shared that she has a habit of sending flowers to celebrities she jokes about at award shows as a small thank you for taking it in good spirit. She opened up about the tradition during her appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.'

Talking about her Golden Globes material, Glaser said she wanted to avoid the usual jokes about Leonardo DiCaprio’s dating life. “I did a joke about Leonardo DiCaprio, which I was really struggling with because I was like, 'I just don't want to make the joke about how he has young girlfriends. It's been done so many times,’” she explained to Fallon. “That joke's been going on longer than his current girlfriend's been alive."

Instead, she and her team dug up an old teen magazine feature to build a fresh punchline. “Me and my writing team found a Teen Beat article from 1991," Nikki recalled. "I was like, 'Leo, we don't know anything about you. The only thing we know about you is from a Teen Beat article in 1991, where you told us your favorite food is pasta, pasta, and more pasta.'”

The joke ended up getting a response she did not expect. “He sent me three baskets of pasta as a thank you," Nikki added. "He sent me pasta. So funny. So good. Part of me was like, 'Does Leo want to smash?' Like, I was like, 'All right.' Then I was like, 'The type of girl he goes for, he wouldn't send pasta to.’ It was a dry pasta."