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15 'Saturday Night Live' Cast Members' Stories Of Being Fired

Here's how these 15 cast members got the axe.

15 'Saturday Night Live' Cast Members' Stories Of Being Fired

September 04, 2022

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15

Damon Wayans

Damon Wayans CRACKED.COM Another lone black cast member immediately compared to Eddie Murphy. In 1986, Wayans im- provised his role as a police officer on the air with- out consulting anyone. Не admitted that it was fair to fire him, saying, I knew I was going to get fired for it. Lorne did the right thing. The unjustified part is that he felt driven to act out in the first place. Не explained, They didn't let me do what I wanted to, which I came to learn was Lorne Mi- chaels' way of protecting me from looking like I was — People

14

Chris Farley

Chris Farley GRAGKED.COM If you checked out that Sandler song we just mentioned, he sings a quote from Farley, Sandman, they fired my a** too! Hard to say when firings like this are justified or not, but when it's Chris Farley, it's unjustified to not give him one big beautiful send-off episode. Not knowing that his last show was in fact his last show kinda sucks. — People

13

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler CRACKED.COM Don't worry, he's fine. We had to do some ex- tensive digging, but we found out that he ended up doing okay. Back in 1995, Sandler and Chris Farley were let go at the same time. Не said in a 2014 interview, Yes, we were fired. We kind of quit at the same time as being fired. It was the end of the run for us. The fact that me and him got fired? Who knows. We were on it for a few years, had our run, and everything happens for a rea- son. We kind of — Daily Beast

12

Rob Riggle

Rob Riggle GRAGKED.COM But he's so funny! Give him a chance! From 2004 to 2005, Riggle only lasted one season before getting fired. After this quote, it seems like he just got bur- ied. I don't want to bash on it, because I'm always grateful that I got the dream-come-true to be on SNL. But I wouldn't say it's not dysfunctional. I had a very special circumstance. The year I was hired, I was the only guy hired. The cast was massive. Fif- teen people on the cast and I'm the only new guy. Well, you know Darrell Hammond's getting — Daily Beast

11

Chris Parnell

Chris Parnell CRACKED.COM You're hired. You're fired. You're hired. You're fired. Another 2006 budget-cut victim was Chris Parnell, but this was actually his second time being fired, as his first dismissal came in 2001. In a 2014 interview with Marc Maron, he said, I was very surprised. I was pretty devastated. I've never been fired from any job. But after the 2006 firing, he said, I was ready to go off. I had done my time. — WTF Pod

10

Horatio Sanz

Horatio Sanz CRACKED.COM But who's gonna break character with Jimmy?! When budget cuts hit SNL in 2006, some of the show's most established cast members (like Horatio Sanz) were abruptly asked to leave. Lorne Michaels said, Things like this are never pleasant. I made the decision to stick with the 20 episodes and cut everything back. — Variety

9

Michaela Watkins

Michaela Watkins CRACKED.COM After her one season, Michaela Watkins described her firing from SNL in 2009 as a little rude. I thought that this was my big break. I thought that it was going well. I thought we were all having a good time, but then they didn't renew my contract the next year. Maybe I was delusional. I really wanted to go back. I would have been really happy if they'd had me for three seasons. I felt like that would have been a really nice time there, but they had me for one. — Daily Beast

8

Norm Macdonald

Norm Macdonald CRACKED.COM Norm did love those O.J. jokes. But fired for it? Come on! As the story goes, in 1998, Norm was fired for telling too many O.J. Simpson jokes. Writer James Downey (who was fired at the same time) said, That was all due to then NBC exec. Don Ohlmeyer. Norm and I were writing a lot of jokes about O.J. Simpson, and we had been doing so for more than three years. Don, being good friends with O.J., had just had enough. — Daily Beast

7

Jay Pharoah

Jay Pharoah CRACKED.COM Hired together, fired together. Jay Pharoah lasted the same number of seasons as Tarran Kil- lam before they were let go. In an interview, he said, You go where you're appreciated. They put people into boxes and what- ever they want you to do, they expect you to do. And I'm fiery. More like firedy. Sorry. — Hot97

6

A Fact You Can Trust!

Joan Cusack CRACKED COM 1985-86 strikes again. Joan Cu- sack shared the stage with Robert Downey Jr. and Julia Louis-Drey- fus during that one cursed season. Nathan Rabin of The AV Club said, It didn't take long for a cultural consensus to emerge that the 1985-86 season of SNL was an al- most unmitigated disaster. — AVClub

5

Taran Killam

Taran Killam CRACKED.COM After 6 years at SNL, Killam was stung by his 2016 firing. Не said, I don't know the other side of it. You sign for seven years, so I had one more year. I had sort of had it in my head I would make this upcoming year my last year, but then heard they weren't going to pick up my contract. I was never given a reason why, really. I can assume until the cows come home. This interview suggests that it may be because he expressed interest in direct- ing a film (that wouldn't have — Uproxx

4

Laurie Metcalf

Laurie Metcalf CRACKED.COM Now that she's won multiple Emmys and Tonys, we can talk about her five-day stint as an SNL cast mem- ber. A single segment on one epi- sode in 1981 is all she got before the Writers Guild strike forced the sea- son to end early. She was not asked back the following year. Come on, there's no way her segment was that bad! — Vulture

3

Chris Rock

Chris Rock CRACKED.COM Chris Rock was constantly compared to Eddie Murphy. But Rock was more of a storyteller and Eddie was known for his impersonations and characters. In 1993, he told Lorne Michaels that he was frustrated by the stereotypical material he was being given, and that he was considering a move to In Liv- ing Color. Не was fired, made the move, then In Living Color was can- celled 3 weeks later. — CheatSheet

2

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus CRACKED.COM After Seinfeld and Veep, it's impossible to imagine her not having success on TV. Her stint on the show was from 1982 to 1985, and in a Sirius ХМ interview, she recalled being pretty miserable in a very dog-eat-dog environment. Her third season was that infamous 1985-86 season, and she was one of many who were not asked to return. Unjust! She also called the show very sexist back then. — EW

1

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. CRACKED.COM 23 years before Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. was part of one godawful SNL season from 1985 to 1986. It wasn't his fault! There was just a mas- sive re-tooling of the show, and the then 20 year-old was one of several performers not asked to return. Lorne Michaels said, There's a lot of talent there, but for many of them this was the wrong forum, and the cast simply never jelled. — RollingStone

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