You know you’ve made “it” if you’re being impersonated on Saturday Night Live. Some celebrities totally get a kick out of being parodied for laughs, while others get downright upset. Read the reactions of celebrities who talk about what it was like to be impersonated on SNL.
Every US President since Gerald Ford has been lampooned on the late-night sketch show. However, at least publicly, every president has shown to have a sense of humor about being made fun of. That is, every president except one.
Find out which president became lifelong friends with the comedian who impersonated him on the show. Which acclaimed fashion designer called her impersonator with pointers on how to make her performance more authentic? Which famous journalist really hated her portrayer’s new take on how to pronounce her name?
1. Kate McKinnon’s Impression Of Hillary Clinton Made The Former Presidential Candidate Rethink Her ‘Hearty’ Laugh
Hillary Clinton is no stranger to being in the public eye. The former First Lady, Secretary of State, and New York Senator has been played by nine different SNL cast members
When Clinton ran for President in 2016, Kate McKinnon had already assumed the role of Hillary. The candidate was always a good sport about being spoofed on SNL. She even made a cameo with McKinnon in 2016 where she played a bartender.
Clinton admitted that although she likes McKinnon’s Hillary, it’s not always easy to see yourself spoofed on national television.
“Her really dramatic impersonation of me does make me think, ‘Oh my gosh, did I roll my eyes? Lift my eyebrows?’” Clinton said. “My laugh, which has been noted since I was a little girl – ’hearty’ is the way it’s often described – I see the exaggerated version of it and I do sometimes think, ‘Well, maybe I should just sort of back off from that.’ But then I forget and go on and just be what I’ve always been.”
2. Barbara Walters Hated Gilda Radner’s ‘Baba Wawa’ Impression
Over the years, Saturday Night Live lampooned legendary broadcast journalist and popular TV personality Barbara Walters many times. SNL cast members Rachel Dratch, Cheri Oteri, Michaela Watkins, and Nasim Pedrad have all portrayed Walters.
However, original cast member Gilda Radner was the first to take aim at Walters, who in the mid-’70s served as a news anchor for the NBC morning show Today.
Walters did not care for Radner’s famous impression and hated the whole “Baba Wawa” business.
Gilda was the first person to make fun of news anchors. Now it’s done all the time, but Gilda was the original. And, of course, I laughed at everybody – as long as it wasn’t me. When Gilda first began to do “Baba Wawa,” I hated it. I didn’t like it. I didn’t want to be “Baba Wawa.” I guess it’s good to be made fun of. I guess that means you’re slightly famous.
I don’t talk that way, and I do pronounce my Rs. Why did my parents have to name me Bar-bar-a Wal-ters?
3. Steve Harvey Said Kenan Thompson Was Scared When He Came On His Show
Kenan Thompson first donned the bushy mustache and multi-buttoned pinstriped suit to portray Steve Harvey back in 2003. The longest-running cast member ever has returned to the Family Feud host multiple times over the years.
At first, Harvey was not a fan of the send-up but has since come around.
“I just look at it like this: you gotta be famous to get hit,” said Harvey. “I can’t read that well, but I can read better than Kenan can. I really don’t have 50 buttons on any of my suits. Ten years ago I did, but not anymore. And I can’t pronounce words that have four syllables, so he’s right.”
Harvey may find Thompson’s impersonation a bit off the mark; however, the comedian is still able to have a little fun with the SNL star.
“I actually had him on my talk show and he was scared to come around the corner. I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Kenan Thompson!’ He wouldn’t even come around the corner ’cause I told him I was gonna knock his *ss out as soon as I saw him,” joked Harvey.
4. Donatella Versace Called Maya Rudolph With Pointers On How To Make Her Impression More Authentic
Sending up famed fashion designer Donatella Versace became a steady gig for Maya Rudolph. The stand-out SNL cast member took on the flamboyant Italian socialite 13 times from 2001 – 2007.
Versace appeared on an episode of The View in 2010. She said that she thought Rudolph’s impression was “hilarious.” However, Versace made sure to call Rudolph with some pointers on how to make it more authentic.
“I talked to her [Rudolph] on the phone once, and I gave her a suggestion on how to do me better,” said Versace. “First off: ‘I don’t drink.’ And second: ‘Take off the jewelry because it looks too fake – I only wear real.’”
5. Gerald Ford Hated Being Portrayed As A Klutz – But Made Sure To Publicly Embrace Chevy Chase’s Impression
When Saturday Night Live first aired in 1975, Gerald Ford was President of the United States. That also made him the first president to be lampooned on the edgy late-night show.
Chevy Chase didn’t bother to sound or act anything like Ford. Instead, the physical comic’s whole impression featured Ford as a klutzy clown falling down and tripping over his own shoes.
Chase’s entire impression was based on the time Ford slipped on the stairs of Air Force One because it was raining outside. Unfortunately, the moment got caught on tape.
The truth was that Ford was an excellent athlete, hardly a klutz. In public, the former president smiled about Chase’s parody. He even invited the breakout SNL star to the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and played along by acting clumsy.
However, Ford did take umbrage with the impression in private.
“Ford had a great personality, but the thing about his being clumsy did get under his skin,” said Ford’s press secretary Ron Nessen.
6. George H.W. Bush Invited Dana Carvey To The White House After Losing Re-Election To Cheer Up The Staff With His Impression
Dana Carvey’s masterful impression of President George H.W. Bush is considered by many to be among the best political send-ups in Saturday Night Live history. Carvey’s signature lines, “Wouldn’t be prudent at this juncture,” and “Not going to do it, not going to do it,” became common parlance during the one-term president’s time in office.
“You start out with Mr. Rogers, and then you add a little John Wayne,” said Carvey of how he went about crafting the impression.
President Bush not only enjoyed Carvey’s impression, but he even invited the comic to the White House after losing his 1992 bid for a second term. President Bush felt that since Carvey had made him laugh so much over the years, he could also spread some joy among his staff who would be packing their bags after Bush’s loss to Bill Clinton.
Bush and Carvey would go on to become lifelong pals.
Carvey penned a piece for The New York Times following Bush’s death in 2018. He wrote:
And so began my lucky 25-year friendship with “Barbara and George.” My wife and I happily received Christmas cards every year, as well as other postcards and letters. When I had a health scare in 1998, President Bush wrote to me to ask: “Can I do anything, Dana? We’ve got great doctors right here in Houston.” When we did charity events together, I did my Ross Perot impression for him, and he would always laugh.
7. Ruth Bader Ginsburg Wanted To Start Saying ‘Gins-Burn’ To Her Colleagues
Some impressions are done totally out of love. SNL standout Kate McKinnon joined Weekend Update several times as Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
McKinnon focuses her impression on the force of nature that Ginsburg had become despite her age and small size. McKinnon’s “Notorious RBG” slant painted the Supreme Court Justice as a spunky, gutsy warrior who specifically sent out “Gins-burns” to her political foes.
Ginsburg approved of McKinnon’s impression.
“I liked the actress who portrayed me,” Ginsburg said during a 2018 interview with NPR. “And I would like to say ‘Gins-Burn!’ sometimes to my colleagues.”
8. Sarah Palin Called ‘SNL’ Egotistical For Thinking That Tina Fey’s Impression Of Her Had Any Effect On The 2008 Presidential Election
Not only did Tina Fey look eerily similar to Sarah Palin, but the SNL alum was able to mimic her speech and mannerisms.
Fey had already graduated from SNL in 2008 when the Alaskan Governor received John McCain’s vice-presidential nomination. However, she returned to the show for eight guest appearances as Palin and even won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
At least initially, Palin seemed to be okay being the butt of the joke. She even made a cameo on October 18, 2008, for the late-night show’s cold open in a sketch called “Palin Press Conference.”
However, there was speculation that Fey’s portrayal of Palin as a not-so-bright yokel actually hurt McCain’s Presidential run.
Palin disagreed. “I think SNL is egotistical if they believe that it was truly an effect on maybe the public debate about who should lead the country in the next four years,” said Palin.
In 2014, Palin appeared in the new edition of “Saturday Night Live oral history, Live From New York.”
“You need to at least pay for my kids’ braces or something from all the money that you made off of pretending that you’re me! My goodness, you capitalized on that,” Palin said that she would tell Fey if she saw her. “Can’t you contribute a little bit? Jeez!”
9. Donald Trump Allegedly Wanted The Department Of Justice To Force ‘SNL’ To Stop Mocking Him
Every United States President that has been lampooned on Saturday Night Live has at least publicly shown that they have a sense of humor about being parodied. They all figure it’s part of the job and being president is ripe for political satire. That is, every US President except for Donald Trump.
Trump’s four tumultuous years in office offered a wealth of unbelievable material for Saturday Night Live. The added fact that known liberal Alec Baldwin got the steady gig of playing him certainly fueled the flames.
The former President took to Twitter multiple times to comment on Baldwin and SNL.
This Trump tweet from 2018 questions the legality of mocking him:
A REAL scandal is the one-sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?
A tweet from 2019 once again argued for “collusion.” Trump wrote:
Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake News NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!
In 2021, The Daily Beast reported that Trump did not understand that SNL and late-night talk shows are a protected form of speech because it’s clearly satire. Trump wanted the Department of Justice to make those programs stop making fun of him.
From The Daily Beast:
According to two people familiar with the matter, Trump asked advisers and lawyers in early 2019 about what the Federal Communications Commission, the court system, and – most confusingly to some Trump lieutenants – the Department of Justice could do to probe or mitigate SNL, Jimmy Kimmel, and other late-night comedy mischief-makers.