I used to like Jimmy Fallon. I thought he was one of the good guys – a bit harmless, a bit of a goofball; offering the sort of happy-clappy comedic sketches and reel-worthy chewing gum TV that didn’t evoke any deep emotion, save for a giggle at him acting the eejit with Hollywood types.

That was before The Tonight Show on NBC made the wildly tone-deaf decision to not only give disgraced Conor McGregor a platform to highlight his comeback to UFC later this month, but also treat him as some sort of conquering hero returning from a noble crusade.

Now I don’t know what to make of Jimmy.

Is he a spineless, simpering little wimp, desperately kowtowing to the demands of ratings, sponsors and celebrity access? His ratings have plummeted in recent years, after all. Or does he have a questionable moral compass himself, not to mention just really bad taste in pals?

Then again, this is America, a country presided over by a man who, let’s face it, endorses dominance over women.

And let’s not forget the bromance between Donald Trump and McGregor. Remember them fist bumping in the Oval Office on Paddy’s Day last year? The orange one even calls McGregor his favourite Irish person.

McGregor’s questionable popularity in the States is one thing, but in Ireland, outside a small but enthusiastic pocket of Maga-adjacent admirers, manosphere devotees and, for want of a better word, scrotes, he is broadly reviled.

The idea that he once entertained presidential ambitions is now remembered in the same way one remembers a bad dream: briefly, confusingly, and with the huge relief that it’s over.

That’s because Irish people know the true McGregor.

We know this is a man who is capable of the worst type of denigration to a woman. The brutal details of Nikita Hand’s civil rape case are etched into the Irish public’s consciousness.

We know about the testimony of medical professionals and the paramedic who described Nikita’s bruising as among the worst they had ever seen, and we know the horrifying detail that includes a tampon and a forceps. We know, and as these details can be found in about a millisecond with a Google search, Fallon and his production team do too.

Yes, Fallon proved that his journalistic integrity extended about as far as a lip-syncing battle when he decided to completely dodge any of those gory details.

Instead, he shot the breeze with his Oirish pal, giving him airtime for the product placement of his new cigar range – appropriately named Notorious Unapologetic – waxing lyrical about being drinking buddies and, of course, drooling over McGregor’s sporting achievements.

‘You’re one of the greatest MMA fighters in the world,’ he said breathlessly (nauseatingly) to a grinning McGregor, before reeling off his achievements like a child reading out a school report.

McGregor, meanwhile, was happy as a clam in this safe space. He had his shirt open, displaying his tattoos like museum pieces, sported veneers so bright they could guide aircraft in low visibility, and spoke in a bizarre hybrid accent best described as a linguistic crisis.

Fallon simply looked enchanted, like a man who had just discovered Ireland via a themed pub and was determined never to leave.

While Fallon was busy brown-nosing, encouraging McGregor to step into his full narcissistic light, banging on about his first UFC victory in the Octagon and his upcoming comeback fight, the mention of the UFC arena sparked a brutal memory.

During the civil trial, Nikita Hand testified that McGregor had told her, while choking her: ‘Now you know what it was like in the Octagon when I had to tap myself out three times.’ Needless to say, Fallon steered clear of that nostalgic nugget.

Thankfully, Fallon has received lots of backlash for his love-in with McGregor. Actress Christina Ricci didn’t mince her words when she wrote on social media: ‘Why the absolute f**k is this piece of human garbage being given a platform on Jimmy Fallon’s show?’ And global icon Pink shared a photo of Nikita on social media with a condemning caption: ‘You ask why women don’t report rape? They do. But men still get platforms and are treated like celebrities.’

Interestingly, this week – also Stateside – Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi was heavily booed by Scottish fans during Morocco’s World Cup match against Scotland in Massachusetts.

The hostile reception from the vocal Tartan Army occurred because, just hours before kick-off, a French appeals court confirmed Hakimi would stand trial in a rape case. Same country, different audience and setting.

McGregor was afforded Fallon’s soft-focus filter, celebrated for his victories amid a cacophony of audience whoops and hollers.

By having that man on his show and whitewashing his violent past, Fallon has helped to normalise sexual violence.

And he’s gaslit Nikita Hand and every women who tirelessly fought to bring sexual predators to justice. Shlock, it seems, is all The Tonight Show is good for.