Melissa McCarthy explains why she gave husband a Jitterbug for anniversary
Melissa McCarthy knows that the best anniversary present is one that horrifies your children. To celebrate her 13th year with husband Ben Falcone, McCarthy bought him what she described on Ellen as “a senior citizen phone”: the big-numbered, decidedly non-smart Jitterbug flip phone. While talking to McCarthy about her new buzzy new drama Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Yahoo Entertainment learned the story behind the not-so-romantic gift.
“He’s always threatening to go off the grid,” McCarthy said about her husband, who is also her frequent co-star and director. The couple shares an aversion to technology and social media — “I already don’t email; we’re not a tech-savvy house,” she told us — but this was a bridge too far.
“I said, ‘You can’t ago off the grid. I have to have a way of contacting you. We have kids,’” she told Falcone.
As a compromise, her husband brought up the idea of getting a Jitterbug — and their daughters, who are 11 and 8 years old, were mortified at the thought of their dad getting the world’s dorkiest phone. So naturally, McCarthy went for it.
“I want to get a big clip for it.,” she joked. “Because it’s a sizable phone. … I love it. It’s like wearing an old, huge calculator.”
To see what gift McCarthy has planned for her 14th anniversary, watch the video above.
During her Ellen appearance, the actress said that Falcone’s gift to her was “two beautiful rings, one that said ‘Love.’” The couple, who met in the comedy troupe the Groundlings, married in 2005 after five years of dating.
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, based on the true story of a writer turned con artist in 1990s New York City, opens in theaters on Friday.
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