‘New Girl’ Stars Reunite — in a Slightly Different Way Than Max Greenfield Claimed

Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson, Lamorne Morris, Hannah Simone and Damon Wayans Jr. had a New Girl reunion on Saturday night — in a different way than fans may have imagined. The stars came together at the Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in Los Angeles, where together they received the Rising Phoenix Award and Greenfield served as the evening’s host. The event was put on in support of Southern California nonprofit Chrysalis, which helps individuals navigate obstacles on their path to meaningful employment. The group’s night out came on the heels of a renewed push for an on-screen New Girl reunion, fueled by Greenfield fibbing in a Today appearance that creator Liz Meriwether had written “amazing” scripts for a revival. This set off a series of jokes between Meriwether and the cast, along with confirmation that there are no real plans for a reunion at this time. Greenfield’s viral moment was a hot topic of conversation at the event, as Deschanel teased while the group accepted their award, “We especially would like to thank Max, who while organizing this announced that an actual New Girl reunion was happening and he made our lives so very annoying.” “Now is probably not the most appropriate time to apologize for this but yes, that’s something that happened and I am sorry. It did, however, bring a lot of attention to Chrysalis and what we are doing here tonight, accidentally,” Greenfield responded. “When the six of us reunite — six actors, none of whom graduated college except apparently Hannah, which does make a lot of sense; Jake says he did graduate college, which no one believes — but when we come together, remarkably people pay attention and people show up, and we are so grateful that you showed up tonight.” On the carpet, Greenfield, who organized the big moment via the stars’ group chat, teased to The Hollywood Reporter that instead of making such a public declaration on national television, “I probably should have just said there is a New Girl reunion and it’s happening on Oct. 10 in support of Chrysalis. I got excited and then we found an opportunity for a fun pivot and said, ‘Actually, it’s this.'” Johnson, though, wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily, declaring, “He did such a bad job it was unbelievable.” The actor noted how he and Morris play a game where they “talk shit to each other via interviews — Max didn’t get the memo and sincerely said he read scripts and they were great, with no joke or insult. Then Liz had to step in and say, ‘My lawyer wrote me, you idiot.’ So that is Max being Max,” teasing, “there was zero strategy. He texted me after and said, ‘I think I did a bad job.’ And he did.” The Butterfly Ball — held at The Beehive — also honored Jared Wolff, chairman and CEO of Banc of California, with the Corporate Trailblazer Award; Guadalupe Rios, a former Chrysalis participant and current Caltrans employee, received the John Dillon Award.