A woman's now-viral story of the time she met Jake Gyllenhaal has left the internet in stitches.
Posting to TikTok on Sunday, Megan McDonald said she met the Donnie Darko star 11 years ago through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The video has garnered more than 300,000 views and hundreds of comments, including some from Taylor Swift fans who took the story as an opportunity to troll Gyllenhaal.
"Put a finger down if you were granted a wish to meet Jake Gyllenhaal and ended up waiting four years to meet him," said McDonald at the beginning of her video.
According to the Make-A-Wish Foundation's website, most wishes are fulfilled within three months. Of course, due to "external circumstances," some wishes may be delayed.
"[I]n some situations a wish child may have to wait for their wish due to external circumstances such as the child's treatment schedule or the availability of a popular celebrity," the website explained. "If the fulfillment of a wish must be delayed for any reason, the wish child and family are fully informed, and the wish child is given the option to either make another wish request or wait."
At the time of receiving her wish, McDonald was already 21 years old and six years into remission. Still, she enjoyed an unforgettable evening with Gyllenhaal.
According to McDonald, she and her mother were flown out to the Los Angeles premiere of Source Code, a 2011 sci-fi movie starring Gyllenhaal. Because she was told it would be a "red carpet event," McDonald donned a designer dress and a $300 pair of stilettos for the occasion; however, she quickly realized she'd overdressed.
"[I] get there and find out that everyone else was in jeans and a t-shirt," she recalled.
When McDonald finally met the Spider-Man: Far From Home actor at the premiere's after-party, he greeted her with a gift and invited her to the "after after party," where the "fashion fiasco" was only made worse.
"So [I] go to the Roosevelt Hotel with [my] mom and show up in a strapless Betsy Johnson dress to find out that [I'm] actually going to be bowling with Jake Gyllenhaal and his famous friends," she said. "And [I'm] the a**hole in stilettos, so Jake Gyllenhaal himself has to personally go and get [me] socks to wear underneath [my] bowling shoes."
In a follow-up video, McDonald shared pictures from the event, which showed her bowling beside a smiling Gyllenhaal.
"Why was I dressed this way in the presence of this man right here?" she asked, pointing to a picture that shows Gyllenhaal laughing as McDonald poses for the camera. "You can see that he is literally laughing at me. He can see how much of an a**hole I look like."
McDonald's original post attracted a barrage of Taylor Swift fans, who cracked jokes at the actor's expense.
"Seems like you remember it All Too Well," wrote Hilary Gamble.
"Was the gift a red scarf?" asked louboutins_n_camo.
"Taylor's 20-minute version," another user joked.
The comments were referencing All Too Well, a track from Swift's 2012 album Red, believed to be about the Prisoners star—a claim that Gyllenhaal recently refuted.
"It has nothing to do with me. It's about her relationship with her fans," Gyllenhaal said of the song in an interview with Esquire, adding that he hasn't listened to Red.
Other commenters simply stated that the story was "wild."
"What a STORY. I'm glad you're in remission," wrote sabi.
"That's actually wild," said Jessi.
Hannahmomofmany added: "I've watched an ungodly amount of TikTok. I love stories...I always listen to them...and this, this takes the [cake]."
Newsweek has reached out to Megan McDonald for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Sara Santora is a Newsweek reporter based in Florida. Her focus is reporting on viral social media posts and trends. ... Read more
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