Ryan McKenna has had himself quite a week. The 13-year-old from Scituate became internationally-famous as “selfie kid” after sharing a selfie with Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl LII halftime show on Sunday.
McKenna’s encounter with Timberlake wasn’t just a one-time thing, though. During his first in-studio interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, he got the opportunity to talk to the singer.
Timberlake called-in to the show during the latter half of the interview to surprise McKenna, who quickly became visibly emotional. “It’s nice to meet you, finally,” Timberlake said.
“I knew that I wanted to end the performance with ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ just because I see how people respond to that song… and, then cut to Ryan,” Timberlake joked to DeGeneres while explaining the lead up to the chance encounter.
Ellen said that McKenna’s selfie was just as memorable as the performance itself.
“Everybody loves Justin and, now, you are a part of his life,” DeGeneres joked. “I’m sure he’ll send you money…”
That comment got a laugh from the crowd, but it turned out that Timberlake did have a very special gift for McKenna.
“I’ll tell you what I wanna do,” Timberlake said. “Because all of this has happened, I thought to myself, ‘I really want to meet you properly.’ So, I’m gonna be coming to TD Garden on tour to play in Boston. So, I’d like to invite you and your family to come and I want to meet you.”
DeGeneres handed McKenna four VIP passes to the Boston show as Timberlake revealed his intentions.
The gifts didn’t stop there. The NFL, recognizing the family’s devotion to the New England Patriots, gave the McKennas a VIP experience for a Patriots home game next season, as well as four tickets to a game and pre-game field passes.
“Ryan, I look forward to meeting you and our second selfie together,” Timberlake said at the end of the interview.
Of course, Ellen concluded the interview with… a selfie with McKenna. He is a big deal, after all.