In the 48 hours after the launch of his platform on Monday morning, Lindell conducted what he described as a “Frankathon” to promote the site, which was pitched as a mix of YouTube and Twitter that would protect the free speech of its members.
The website crashed almost immediately after going online and the ability for users to make accounts was delayed. Lindell blamed a “massive attack.”
During the Frankathon, the MyPillow boss discussed voter fraud conspiracy theories and fielded calls from guests including former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. He lashed out at coverage of the launch by mainstream news outlets, including Newsweek.
On Monday night, Kimmel featured the stream on his show and described it as being a “48-hour yellathon” and noted that the website appeared to be suffering from technical issues. During the stream, Lindell repeatedly criticized how Kimmel had treated him in the past.
But Kimmel said on Monday that Lindell was welcome on the show on two conditions: that he conduct the interview in-person and from a bed surrounded by pillows.
“What Mike Lindell doesn’t seem to understand is, I am his biggest fan. I have no idea what he is doing but I love it. I am enjoying it,” the comedian said.
A transcript of the monologue was published in a story after the Jimmy Kimmel Live bit aired and was promptly shared with Lindell, who read it out to his viewers.
On his Tuesday segment, Kimmel admitted that he had been watching Lindell’s stream at the time of that read-out, and joked about how the entire stream appeared to be the CEO “passionately ranting from 8 o’clock in the morning until 11 o’clock at night.”
Kimmel played a series clips of an overly animated Lindell shouting earlier in the day, including some of Lindell’s reactions to his invitation to the talk show.
And Kimmel noted that it seemed likely the interview could actually happen in the next week after Lindell said he would “absolutely” take him up on the offer.
“I love that he owns a pillow company and doesn’t seem to sleep. It’s like poetry. I have to admit I was glued to this. I want this Frankathon to go on forever,” Kimmel said on Tuesday. “I am excited. I am not even sure he is real. I haven’t seen most of my friends for 13 months, I am going to be spooning with the MyPillow guy next week.”
As of Wednesday morning, the platform Frank did not appear to be letting users create accounts. It did not appear to have social media-style interactivity at all, with the main homepage largely hosting news articles and podcasts from other sites or creators.
