Jason Sudeikis Publicly Hated on ‘Saturday Night Live’ Before He Joined: ‘I Was Just Protecting Myself’ (Video)

Before he was a cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” Jason Sudeikis used to “hate on” and belittle the iconic sketch comedy series, he admitted on Thursday’s episode of “Hot Ones.” Unpacking why he publicly bemoaned the show before he joined its ensemble, the “Ted Lasso” Emmy winner realized it was a matter of “protecting” himself.

“They would never let me play football at Notre Dame, I would never get to play basketball at KU, so how would I ever get to work on ‘Saturday Night Live’?” Sudeikis remembered thinking. “So yeah, let’s hate on it. It wasn’t so much hating on it, ’cause I had heroes on that show. I had friends on that show at the time. I had a specific reason that I tried to articulate why, but I think deep down inside, I was just protecting myself from the possibility of not achieving something that ‘boy oh boy wouldn’t it be neat if I did.’”

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Host Sean Evans said that Sudeikis and actor Bob Odenkirk were the only people he had heard admit aloud to their petty dismissal of “SNL,” a comparison in which Sudeikis took pride, saying he loves Odenkirk.

“Metaphorically it feels like that girl in school that you have a crush on that you hate on until you realize that, ‘Oh, that’s weird that you feel that way because she was asking about you,’” he said. “It was a little bit of that youthful ignorance and arrogance.”

As he conquered the 10 wings of death on “Hot Ones” — praising the signature Da Bomb sauce that hails from his own Kansas City — Sudeikis also recalled a beloved memory he has with the late Norm McDonald and praised the comedy lessons learned from renowned acting teacher Dell Close.

Watch all that and more in the full video above.

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