Tristan Thompson Plays Drake’s Best Man In A Music Video Wedding With 23 Brides

Much like Beyoncé’s Beyoncé, or Taylor Swift’s sister albums Foklore and Evermore, Drake’s new album came as a surprise. Honestly, Nevermind was announced hours before its release at midnight June 17, along with the first music video for the new song, “Falling Back.”

The track seems to tell the story of an unappreciated partner (“I'm still holding my breath for the day that you will / See that the effort I make is too real”) whose significant other keeps “falling back” to them. The accompanying music video revolves around a wedding in which Drake’s on-screen persona is getting married — to 23 brides in one ceremony. Oh, and his best man? Tristan Thompson.

In the video, the Chicago Bulls player helps Drake get ready for the big day, and even fixes his bowtie. “You ready? Doesn’t feel right — we scrap it, we go home, it’s done,” he says, adding that he’s “happy” for the fictional groom. “You only get married once.”

Of course, if you’re a fan of Thompson’s very famous ex — Khloé Kardashian — and her family, the whole scenario might sting a little. 24 hours before the “Falling Back” music video dropped, the Kardashians season finale saw the fallout from Thompson’s infidelity and paternity scandal, in which he fathered another woman’s child. “Did Tristan have every opportunity to tell me? Yes,” she said during the emotional episode. “Was Tristan going to tell me if there wasn’t a baby involved? Absolutely not, and that shows a lot about his character. The entire thing is despicable.”

In the penultimate episode, Kardashian had opened up about plans to marry Tristan one day. “I’m not with Tristan to just float around with Tristan,” she said. “I mean, marriage is the end goal. But right now I still think there’s just work to be done with him and I both.” So, naturally, hearing Thompson give a pep talk about marriage — and celebrate a wedding with nearly two dozen women — rubbed several Twitter users the wrong way, with many calling the ill-timed appearance “embarrassing.”

Drake and Thompson have been friends for a while now, so the athlete’s role in the video (if questionable) at least makes sense on that level. The pair hung out together as recently as Memorial Day weekend — and in 2019, Us Weekly reported that they had a “fun guys’ night out” during one of Thompson and Kardashian’s earlier splits.