Saturday Night Live is one of the most prestigious comedy shows in history.
As a late-night institution that's been running for more than 40 years, it's launched the
careers of some of the biggest stars of movies and television and resulted in several silver
screen adaptations of its character list.
But even though they may be some of the funniest and talented people in the business, SNL's
cast members are still just people — which means they're prone to the same scandals,
gaffes, dumb ideas, and tragedies as the rest of us.
Here are some the darker moments in the lives of SNL cast members.
From funny to fisticuffs
Wyatt Cenac first got his start as an intern for Saturday Night Live in the mid-'90s, where
he spent a lot of time behind the scenes with Norm Macdonald.
It may have been a great learning experience for him, but things got carried away when
Cenac angered his mentor while playing soccer in a hallway of SNL's production offices.
As he told Stephen Colbert:
"At some point, Norm and I got into a bit of a scrum for the ball, and I wound up clipping
him in the shin"
Macdonald's response to the accidental slight was excessive to say the least.
"…And grabbed me, tried to throw me across the room, which is not how soccer is played."
Clearly, it wasn't all fun and games on the set of SNL.
Talk about a cheap shot.
No punchline
After rocketing to fame as part of the SNL cast in the early '80s, Eddie Murphy earned
top billing in comedy classics like Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, and Coming to America.
"I am Akeem."
"Nice to meet you Akeem."
"I have recently been placed in charge of garbage!"
Over the years, however, Murphy's personal life became more publicized for all the wrong
reasons.
In 1997, Murphy was busted by police in a West Hollywood location that was known for
being a hotspot for prostitution.
He wasn't charged with any crimes, but it still looked pretty suspicious that he had
a known prostitute in his car, and as you tell by those headlines, the press had a field
day.
It may not have been a career-killer, but the incident was still an embarrassment for
the actor.
"Look children!
It's a falling star.
Make a wish.
YEA!
YES, that's right!"
Getting clean
Chris Farley, one of the all-time SNL greats, tragically passed away at the young age of
33 in December of 1997.
He'd starred in just a handful of movies like Tommy Boy and Black Sheep before he lost his
long, difficult struggle with addiction.
But the actor tried hard to beat his chemical dependencies, even if few knew of his personal
battles.
In the last two years of his life, Farley went through drug rehabilitation programs
no less than 17 times.
Tragically, none of those efforts prevented his passing, which was found to stem from
an overdose of morphine and cocaine.
Stepping out
Shortly after Chris Rock's regular stint on SNL ended, in 1994, he met Malaak Compton,
and the two were wed just two years later.
It appeared that they had one of the more stable marriages in Hollywood, where it's
something of an accurate cliché that relationships don't seem to last very long.
And Rock's post-SNL career rapidly rose thanks to his popular stand-up sets and big screen
appearances.
So it was a little shocking then when the pair, who had two daughters together, got
divorced in 2016.
But maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprising separation.
Those two decades together may not have been as blissful as they seemed from the outside.
In 1998, the couple separated, and during their off-time Rock reportedly hooked up with
a model named Monika Zsibrita, who later had a child she claimed was Rock's.
A DNA test proved Rock wasn't the father, but Zsibrita later filed a report with the
Los Angeles Police Department that claimed a sexual encounter was actually sexual assault.
No charges were filed against Rock, but the comedian's reputation took a hit as a result
of the controversy.
He's also since admitted he had trouble remaining faithful to his wife during the course of
their time together, telling Rolling Stone of his rumored trysts, "I was a piece of s***."
Viral shaming
Tim Meadows was an SNL stalwart throughout the '90s, with his Leon Phelps "the Ladies
Man" character earning his own spin-off film.
While that character very much loved women, an ex-girlfriend of Meadows' revealed that
the actor may not have been such a great boyfriend.
In 2016, a woman named Lynsie Lee called the actor out on Twitter, claiming he poured his
heart out and then ghosted her, with pictures to prove their romantic history together.
The Ladies Man might've had his own moments of questionable romantic behaviors ...but
who knew Meadows could be just as shady in real life?
"Listen, I could really use that drink now.
Alright, that's nice but I got everything but the glass."
The joke thief
Jay Mohr got his big break when he was cast as a featured player on SNL in 1993.
But Mohr had trouble differentiating himself in SNL's high-pressure environment, and he
struggled to get his sketches into the show.
In his 2004 memoir about SNL titled, appropriately enough, Gasping for Airtime, Mohr admitted
that, in desperation, he stole a routine from a well-known stand-up comedian, turned it
into a sketch…and it got on the air.
Before long, SNL higher-ups found out that Mohr's sketch about a bar called "O'Callahan
and Sons" was nearly identical to comedian Rick Shapiro's "Irish Bartender" routine.
"Welcome to Kelly's.
Kelly McKelley's what's a matter?
Too much ice in your drink?
Give me that drink.
That's not your drink no more, you're not a customer no more.
Get out!
what?"
Mohr was let go at the end of the season.
Hidden health woes
Chris Kattan has kept a relatively low-profile since leaving SNL in 2003.
He did pop up to co-star on ABC's The Middle for a few episodes and competed on the Dancing
with the Stars, but otherwise, he's remained firmly planted outside of the spotlight — and
for good reason.
While doing press for Dancing with the Stars, Kattan revealed that nearly 15 years earlier,
he broke his neck in what he would only refer to as "a stunt thing" that precluded him from
doing physical comedy ever again.
"But it's not going to hold me back."
"Yea"
"I'm strong like an ants"
"Ant?"
"Yea, i don't have ah..
Like look at him he's carrying a tree."
He's had four surgeries to attempt to correct those problems, including one in his throat
and one on his back, but Kattan kept his struggle secret because he worried having a "physical
drawback" would cost him roles.
Self-abuse
Darrell Hammond is arguably one of the best celebrity impressionists SNL has ever had
in its cast, turning in uncannily accurate impressions over the years.
"I. Am.
Bulletproof."
"Next time you best bring Kryptonite!"
But for as much joy as he brought SNL viewers in his 14 seasons on the show, Hammond has
struggled with the dual miseries of addiction and self-harm all the while.
In his harrowing 2011 memoir, God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F*cked, Hammond wrote of
the extensive abuse his mother dished out, revealing that she hit him, stabbed him, and
tortured him.
The comedian has been in therapy since age 19, but it wasn't a cure-all.
He self-medicated and would cut himself backstage at SNL, without the knowledge of his co-stars.
Hammond told NPR, "Most of the time it was really manageable… [but it] sometimes got
a little messy."
Hammond revealed that he has since sought the help he needed by checking himself into
a New York psychiatric hospital.
A tragic union
Fred Armisen and Elisabeth Moss met while doing Saturday Night Live in 2008.
Armisen was a cast member, while Moss did a cameo on an episode hosted by her Mad Men
co-star Jon Hamm.
Just a few months later they were married.
But there was no happily ever after for these two.
The marriage lasted just eight months before Moss filed for divorce.
Moss later revealed the cause of their sudden split, telling New York Magazine that her
marriage to Armisen was "extremely traumatic and awful and horrible … I'm glad that it
didn't happen when I was 50.
I'm glad I didn't have kids."
Armisen also assigned himself the bulk of the blame for the ill-fated honeymoon, saying
he was "heartbroken at himself" for not putting enough work into it.
He also blamed intimacy issues and infidelity, which had affected some of his previous relationships.
Questionable tweets
One of the newest additions to the cast of Saturday Night Live was Melissa Villasenor.
A gifted impressionist,
"Whoever wants to just jump in and go for it Kathy Griffin as a penguin."
"OK here's the deal.
I just hang out in my igloo invite a few polar bears over and yes they're gay!"
Villaseñor is the first Latina cast member in SNL history, which was a win for diversity.
On the other hand, though, her sudden rise to the pre-eminent comedy show wasn't without
controversy.
She was discovered to have thoroughly scrubbed her Twitter account and deleted around 2,000
tweets.
One look at archives of the deleted tweets, and it was clear why they were taken down.
Many of them were jokes, but they were often tasteless and sometimes even racist.
The tough guy
On-screen, Chevy Chase has usually played charmingly smug and slightly aloof guys.
"Well we could take a walk and you could kiss me on the veranda."
"Lips would be fine."
Off-screen, he's earned a reputation as someone who can be pretty mean and nasty to co-workers.
When he returned to Saturday Night Live to host in 1985, he pitched an appalling idea
to cast member Terry Sweeney, the show's first openly gay performer.
According to Sweeney, Chase said, "I've got an idea for a sketch for you.
How about we say you have AIDS, and we weigh you every week?"
Chase was forced to apologize for his offensive remark, but was ultimately invited back to
host again.
It wasn't the last time Chase would be dinged for bad behavior on a show set.
After joining the cast of Community in 2009, he often clashed with showrunner Dan Harmon
over the direction of Chase's character, Pierce Hawthorne.
Reports flew that Chase would frequently leave the set before episodes were finished taping,
and Harmon told The Hollywood Reporter that Chase was especially worried about being portrayed
as a "befuddled old man" who wasn't "sexy."
At one point, Chase left a series of furious, profanity-laden messages on Harmon's voicemail,
which Harmon played out loud during his live show, Harmontown.
The ongoing feud, and those incidents in particular, led to Chase leaving the show in the middle
of its fourth season.
Sorry not sorry
"Weekend Update" co-anchor and standup comedian Michael Che may deliver cutting, insightful
jokes on a regular basis, but he was accused of being not-so-sensitive in 2014.
It started when a viral video about catcalling showed a woman bombarded with more than 100
instances of men shouting unwanted comments at her.
Che offered up his own unusual perspective on the matter, writing, "I wanna apologize
to all the women that I've harassed with statements like 'hi' or 'have a nice day' or 'you're
beautiful'.
I can't imagine what that must feel like.
The closest thing I've experienced is maybe when a girl recognizes me from TV."
When people began angrily replying to Che, he tried to explain himself by saying, "I
think some of you are misunderstanding that post.
I'm simply just making fun of something that is important to a lot of people."
But he didn't stand by that apology and ultimately deleted it, replacing it with a note that
read, "I wanna apologize for my last apology.
Sometimes I forget that I belong to all of you now, and that any thought I have should
be filtered through you, and receive your approval.
It's tough, because I'm used to taking risks and finding humor in places of discomfort.
But that's all over, 'cause I have a job on TV."
In other words, Che might've been okay with women being shouted at dozens of times a day,
but a few too many chirps from the Twitter birds in his direction was no laughing matter.
The irony jokes write themselves with that one.
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