Barbra Streisand Confronted Laraine Newman Over Her ‘SNL’ Impression
It’s terrifying when SNL impressionists have to face their real-people targets in a controlled environment. Before Mark Wahlberg confronted Andy Samberg on an episode of Saturday Night Live, he let the world know he wasn’t happy about Samberg’s impression. “I’m going to crack that big fucking nose of his,” Walhberg told Jimmy Kimmel in 2008. “Then I’m going to tell him, ‘Say hi to your mother for me.’”
Considering it was live television, Samberg escaped his brush with Wahlberg without injury. But Laraine Newman had no such guarantees when Barbra Streisand wanted a word in private. In Season Two, Newman performed a devastating parody of Streisand songs in a medley titled “Me”:
All the critics hated my new movie
A Star is Born was self-indulgent, they agree
‘Cause in the film
I’m practically
The only one you ever hear or see
Don't Miss
I’ll admit the film was weak in places
Like when the camera was on other people’s faces
And I say that not from self-indulgency
But because I’m in love with me
Me
I’m who everyone should be
‘Cause even if one of my films sucks
It still makes four or five million bucks
For me
“Marilyn Miller wrote this incredible song,” Newman told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live. It’s not clear whether Streisand had actually seen the parody, but word had definitely gotten back to her. “I was at my friend’s son’s bar mitzvah, and she was singing at it. And she says, ‘I wanna talk to you.’”
Was Streisand ready to give Newman a knuckle sandwich? The Not Ready for Primetime Player never found out. “I left,” she confessed. “I didn’t wanna talk to her.”
Cohen had other SNL alums on the show who shared similar experiences. Cheri Oteri says Judge Judy got in touch about about her SNL impression. “She called my manager and said, ‘You tell your client she’s almost got me.’” She finally showed Oteri how it was done, guesting on SNL and telling Oteri’s Judge Judy to move her bony ass so she could take over.
Judge Jeanine Pirro reached out to Cecily Strong. “Pirro wanted to get lunch a couple of times,” Strong revealed. “I was busy.”
Ana Gasteyer only got love from her celebrity targets. “Martha Stewart and Celine (Dion) were both super gracious,” she said.
The lesson: Most lampooned celebs are cooler than Mark Wahlberg.
