Melissa McCarthy has a bone to pick with scientists. Every single scientist in the world — and Jennifer Aniston.
In a comic skit for Jimmy Kimmel Live, McCarthy introduced a little infomercial she stars in that attempts to get to the bottom of some of science’s most-accepted foundational theories. At first, McCarthy jokingly questions the veracity of climate change. But then she makes an even bolder claim. “There’s an even bigger issue facing our planet, one that’s gone un-debunked for hundreds of years,” McCarthy explained. “So please, pay attention to this because it might just save your life.” She then cut to a pre-recorded infomercial segment that takes on the controversial notion of… gravity. Yep, gravity.
“The so-called Theory of Gravity was conceived by Isaac Newton. That’s right, the guy from the cookies is trying to tell us why we should stay down,” she jokes, parodying the way that conspiracy theorists tend to draw connections between unrelated pieces of information. Guest star Jennifer Aniston then pops up to attempt to bring McCarthy back to earth — but without much luck. Instead, Aniston finds herself engaging in a tousle and being hoisted into a stage harness.
“Why are you afraid to hear both sides?” McCarthy insists to Aniston.
“Because there are not both sides! If there’s no gravity, why are you still on the ground?” Aniston replies. But McCarthy refuses to be satisfied by logic. Watch her “debunk” gravity, making an obvious parallel to other similarly ubiquitous science-backed claims, above.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com