Hot sauce and hope for Conan O’Brien in Mexico

Television host Conan O’Brien eats hot sauce straight out of a bowl as he tapes a segment at an upscale taco restaurant in Paseo de la Reforma boulevard in Mexico City, Monday, Feb. 20, 2017. O’Brien is drawing stares in Mexico, where he’s taping an episode of his show in a bid to “do something positive” after the tensing of U.S.-Mexico relations. AP Photo

MEXICO CITY— The towering U.S. television host Conan O’Brien is drawing stares in Mexico, where he’s taping an episode of his show in a bid to “do something positive” about the tensions in U.S.-Mexico relations.

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O’Brien, who is 6-feet-4, arrived late last week and has spent part of his time in Mexico City strolling the streets, greeting people and trying the food.

On Monday he stopped by one of the city’s fancier taco restaurants and wound up trying hot sauce straight out of the bowl as restaurant patrons taped the scene on their phones. Some gasped, “No!”

O’Brien said: “Now, I am Mexican. I am also dying.”

He doesn’t think his outreach marks a turning point in bilateral relations, but said, “Everyone has to do their part.”