28 Celebs React To Being Impersonated On "Saturday Night Live" — "I Know That They Portrayed Me As An Idiot, And I Hated That"
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Since the show first premiered, Saturday Night Live has been known for its spot-on celebrity impressions.
NBC / Via giphy.com
And while some people think their likeness making it on the show is an honor, others are...a little less enthused.
NBC / Via giphy.com
So let's take a look at the celebs who loved their SNL impersonations, and the ones who just weren't in on the joke.
1.Loved it: Jennifer Aniston
Admittedly, Aniston wasn't immediately sure how to feel about the impressions that have been done of her over the years, telling InStlye in a 2021 interview that, "Everyone said it was a compliment, but I had to really get my brain around that," but that now she thinks "it's funny. I'm an easy laugh." And when asked who was able to best capture her likeness, she was quick to name SNL's Vanessa Bayer. She came to like the impression so much, in fact, that she appeared in a cameo role with Bayer on "Weekend Update" in 2016!
2.Hated it: Fran Lebowitz
Bowen Yang impersonated the famous New York author in a "Weekend Update" segment at the beginning of 2021, and at first she said she didn't even bother to watch. But in an interview with the LA Times in the summer of 2021, she said of the depiction, "If you’ve never had a caricature drawn of you, you might think this is a great thing [to be parodied] — but no one likes them." A response that delighted Yang. In an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers, Bowen commented on Lebowitz's reaction, saying, "That’s confirmation that she’s seen it and doesn’t care for it. And I think that’s the highest compliment you could possibly get from someone like Fran."
3.Loved it: Miley Cyrus
One of Vanessa Bayer's most memorable recurring sketches was "The Miley Cyrus Show," where she would impersonate the then-teen star hosting her very own talk show. During an interview on Late Night, Miley recounted the experience of first running into Vanessa. "I said, 'You play me on TV!' And she said, 'Yeah, I do.' And I was like, 'Oh, well that's pretty cool,'" the singer recalled. "And she goes, 'What?' And I was like, 'Oh my god! I sound like you doing me!'" And talking about the impression on an episode of Literally With Rob Lowe, Bayer said, "[Miley] was so young. I think she was like 18. It’s a lot to have someone impersonate you. She was always such a good sport about it."
4.Hated it: Mark Wahlberg
Andy Samberg's impression of Mark Wahlberg in the sketch "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals" was not exactly well received by the actor. When asked about the sketch during a Q&A with the NY Post, he said, "Someone showed it to me on YouTube. It wasn't like Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin, that's for sure... Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny for a long time." Ouch. And in an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! he was quoted saying, "When I see [Andy Samberg], I'm going to crack that big fucking nose of his. Then I'm going to tell him, 'Say hi to your mother for me.'"
5.Loved it: Hillary Clinton
Kate McKinnon's portrayal of Hillary Clinton over the years was nothing short of iconic, garnering attention (and a cameo!) from the former United States Secretary of State herself. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she warmly shared that, "Kate McKinnon is actually a better me than I am. I wish I had her talent. She's just an amazing person." And later remembered the "Hallelujah" cold open after Hillary lost the 2016 presidential election, calling it "very touching."
6.Loved it: Bill Clinton
Throughout Bill Clinton's presidency he was portrayed by many different actors, and remained a large target for the show for over eight seasons (season 18 to 26). But talking to the Washington Post, Clinton's former advisor Paul Begala said that the president only ever found it amusing. “He had the thickest skin of anybody I ever knew,” Begala said. “We loved it; he loved it. I don’t remember any talk at all about pushing back on it.”
7.Hated it: Kathie Lee Gifford
Kristen Wiig hilariously parodied Kathie Lee Gifford for years on SNL, portraying her as a wine drunk daytime talk show host and cracking the audience up with every new installment. Gifford, on the other hand, was not laughing. After one sketch aired, she asked her then-co-host Hoda Kotbe, "Can't [Kristen Wiig] get another job? Go off and do something else?" And was later quoted saying, "Everyone seems to enjoy it…but I don't think it's that funny."
8.Loved it: Drew Barrymore
In the season 46 premiere, SNL offered its take on The Drew Barrymore Show with breakout star Chloe Fineman embodying the role of the actor-turned daytime-talk-show-host. After the sketch aired, Drew took to Instagram to show her support of the parody, writing, "I have loved SNL for as long as I know, and to also have the The Drew Barrymore Show brought to the party is so fun. Honored to be apart of it." And when Fineman guested on The Drew Barrymore Show, Drew gushed, "I hope you'll keep doing this on [SNL]. You're my holey-moley-oley for life, and I'm so thrilled you're here."
9.Hated it: Anderson Cooper
In 2015, former cast member Jon Rudnitsky portrayed the journalist and political commentator in a sketch parodying a democratic debate. While the performance elicited laughs from the studio audience, Cooper himself was less amused. In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live! he reacted by saying, "I’m not easily offended, but I didn’t think it was very good.” He continued, "It was like the only thing he knew about me was that I’m gay, so that’s sort of what he went with."
10.Loved it: Denzel Washington
When former cast member Jay Pharaoh did an impression of Denzel in a hilarious 2010 sketch, the actor had nothing but compliments to give. When asked by Access Hollywood what his thoughts on Pharaoh's take were, Washington responded, "He's a very talented kid... I had seen him before that. He's got a thing on YouTube where he does me and Will Smith. He's very good at both."
11.Loved it: The hosts of The View
The hosts of The View have been impersonated on SNL countless times over the years by many different performers, but in 2019 they addressed the parody after a particularly popular sketch aired. Here's what they each had to say. Whoopi Goldberg shared, "Several years ago we talked about the fact that SNL had no women... Looking at that lineup of women on there, I was like, 'Oh, it's very nice to finally see a woman.'" This was a sentiment that Joy Behar shared, who added, "It was a pleasure to be done by a woman." Abby Huntsman said she "never thought I would enjoy being mocked so much." And at the time, Meghan McCain said it was "a pop culture honor" to be impersonated on SNL, buuuuut...
12.Hated it: Meghan McCain
A couple years later, McCain backtracked her earlier statement during a Q&A with Rolling Stone. She said, "People really loved it when SNL dunked on me, and it was not flattering or kind. And, by the way, they were pretty nice to the rest of the [View] cast, just not great to me.” But she didn't stop there. She went on about Aidy Bryant's portrayal, explaining, "I feel like I have a pretty healthy sense of humor. But I think if people knew what it has done to me mentally...the depression that has followed…just the dark spirals. I felt like for a while that I was just the laughing stock of the country.”
13.Loved: Bernie Sanders
Larry David's spot-on impression of presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders left SNL viewers cackling, and there was no bigger fan of the impersonation than Sanders himself. After seeing one of the 2015 sketches, he told ABC, "I think we'll use Larry at our next rally. He does better than I do."
14.Hated it: Carole Baskin
Tiger King star Carole Baskin was more than a little upset when Chloe Fineman embodied her in a 2020 sketch titled "MasterClass Quarantine Edition." "I could just slap that woman!" she said of Fineman during an appearance on The Pet Show With Dennis Quid and Jimmy Jellinek. Describing the performance, she continued, "This whole, 'My kitty, meow, meow, kitty, meow, and then she would just say these really weird words all in a row. That all became popular, I guess, in popular culture and people wanted me to talk like that on the Cameos. And I’m like, ‘I have no idea how to talk like that. That is not how I speak."
15.Loved it: Hot Ones Star Sean Evans
One of the funniest sketches to hit the airwaves in recent memory was definitely "Hot Ones With Beyoncé," where Maya Rudolph as Beyoncé sits down with Mikey Day as Hot Ones host Sean Evans. When Sean saw he was being impersonated on live TV, he tweeted out his support, saying, "THANK YOU SNL. MAMA WE MADE IT!" He later told Esquire that his "favorite thing is that someone from wardrobe at SNL had to source a Sean Evans outfit, and Mikey Day killed it."
16.Hated it: Kellyanne Conway
SNL gave us several hilarious appearances of Kate McKinnon's Kellyanne impression, including a Chicago-esqe musical number that was honestly Emmy worthy. Kellyanne however wasn't too fond of her late night portrayal, telling the Hollywood Reporter that she's "known for being much more happy than maybe the character sometimes is," and that McKinnon needed to, “Make her be a little bit more happy.”
17.Loved it: Dr. Anthony Fauci
During 2020 lockdown, Brad Pitt made a special appearance in an early "at home" episode of Saturday Night Live playing Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci. I don't think anyone was more excited to see who the show picked to play Fauci than the doctor himself. "I think he showed that he is really a classy guy when, at the end, he took off his hair and thanked me and all of the health care workers," he said about the performance. "So, not only is he a really great actor, but he is actually a classy person."
18.Hated it: Sarah Palin
Tina Fey's portrayal of Sarah Palin is probably the first one that comes to mind when you think "SNL impression," but Palin certainly wasn't laughing. In the book Live From New York, Palin is quoted as saying, "I know that they portrayed me as an idiot, and I hated that," before continuing, "If I ran into Tina Fey again today, I would say: “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!"
19.Loved it: Donatella Versace
One of Maya Rudolph's recurring impressions on the show was of Donatella Versace, doing everything from hawking "Versace Pockets" to hitting the slopes. She kept everyone laughing, including Donatella! In an HLN interview with Joy Behar, Versace said she found the sketches "hilarious" and that she even "talked to [Maya] on the phone once, and I gave her a suggestion on how to do me better."
20.Hated it: Lauren Boebert
When Chloe Fineman took on the role of Lauren Boebert last holiday season, the restaurateur/politician had some choice words to share on Twitter. "Just saw the poorly-acted SNL skit from last night," she furiously typed. "Seeing the poor trigger discipline from the no-name actress who played me makes me think Alec Baldwin did the gun safety training over there. BTW, when are they moving SNL over to CNN to die out of irrelevance?"
21.Loved it: Michele Bachmann
In a 2013 sketch title "We Did Stop" (a parody of Miley Cyrus's "We Can't Stop), Miley impersonated the former United States Representative in a music video about the government shutdown. "I have a good sense of humor and I never take it personally," Bachmann said. "I've probably been lampooned six or seven times on Saturday Night Live and that's all done in good fun."
22.Hated it, but then loved it: Barbara Walters
The legendary Barbara Walters has been impersonated many times by many different SNL cast members over the years, and initially the journalist was not a fan. After Gilda Radner's death in 1989, Walters seemingly came around telling the NY Daily News, "Gilda was so wonderful; the sketch immortalized me. But at the time I wasn't so thrilled." When she retired from The View in 2014, Barbara showed up on a "Weekend Update" segment, where they paid tribute to her, and she playfully quipped, "What an honor it was to see my groundbreaking career in journalism reduced to a cartoon character with a ridiculous voice."
23.Loved it: Kamala Harris
When Maya Rudolpoh returned to Saturday Night Live with her Kamala Harris impression, fans went wild. And after a parody of a 2019 DNC Town Hall aired, Kamala logged on to Twitter to voice her support. Tweeting a GIF of Rudolph's performance, she wrote, "That girl being played by [Maya Rudolph] on [SNL]? That girl was me." Maya responded to the then-senator, saying, "YESSSSSSSSSSENATOR!!! An honor to attempt to be as cool as you."
24.Loved it: Celine Dion/Hated it: Britney Spears
In a 2016 episode of SNL, powerhouse singer Ariana Grande showcased her scarily accurate vocal impressions during a sketch about music streamer Tidal. During the performance she impersonates artists like Rihanna, Shakira, and Celine Dion, who came out saying how much she loved it. Ariana recalled on an episode of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show, "When I met Celine, she was like, 'When I saw you, I peed. It was so funny." Britney, however, told London's KISS FM UK, "I love her," but, "I've heard better."
25.Hated it: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson was not impressed when longtime SNL cast member Kenan Thompson donned a starry vest and offered his impersonation of the astrophysicist during a "Weekend Update" segment. deGrasse Tyson told Insider, "I think [SNL's] comedians and actors have more accurately portrayed other people than [Kenan] portrayed me. So there's some room for improvement."
26.Loved it: Gretchen Whitmer
In an at-home episode of SNL in early 2020, Cecily Strong showed up as the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. In the sketch Cecily/Gretchen is airing her grievances about facing criticism about COVID restriction while "nursing a Labatt's" beer. In an appearance on Late Night, Whitmer told Seth Meyers that she found the sketch "funny" and jokingly shared, “I love Canada, but I drink Michigan beer. Not Labatt's.” She loved the performance so much, however, that she sent Cecily a "giant and gorgeous Michigan care package" full of Michigan beer, a T-shirt, and plenty of other goodies. Strong shared a picture of it on Instagram, writing, "Honestly, this blew me away! ... I’m sorry I can’t share with you in person, so cheers to you from afar!"
27.Loved it: Oprah
Maya Rudolph's impression of Oprah in the sketch "Oprah's Favorite Things: Birthday Edition" is not only remembered as one of the most iconic impersonations, but it's also just one of the funniest sketches in the show's history. More often than not, people are impersonating Maya impersonating Oprah when referencing the legendary talk show host. That's how impactful this performance was. It even earned Maya an invitation to an episode of Winfrey's show titled "Funniest People in America." In an interview with Conan O'Brien, Maya told him, "[Oprah] said she really liked it. She said she really appreciated that I was a woman, because I think I was the first woman on Saturday Night Live to play her."
