Top 10 Celebrities Who HATED Being Impersonated on SNL
#10: Anderson Cooper
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Nothing sparks inspiration in the “Saturday Night Live” writer’s room quite like the race to the White House. In Season 41, the cast delivered a cold open parodying the Democratic debates. The sketch featured Larry David as Bernie Sanders, Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton, and Jon Rudnitsky as moderator Anderson Cooper. Cooper commented that he preferred Seth Meyers’ impressions in earlier seasons to Rudnitsky. According to Cooper, the latter’s impersonation was only playing to the fact that he is gay in order to inform the character. He was actually asked to play himself for the sketch, but had a scheduling conflict that made him unable to do so.
#9: Meghan McCain
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Even though she initially reacted well to Aidy Bryant’s portrayal of her, McCain admitted that the impression made her feel very insecure. McCain is the daughter of the late Senator of Arizona– John McCain– and has worked in television, most notably as a panelist on the daytime talk show “The View.” Her right-wing opinions often come under fire, and “Saturday Night Live” did not shy away from lampooning this. McCain disliked feeling like a “laughing stock,” pointing to examples such as Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton as having their “SNL” impersonations become part of their public identity.
#8: Hillary Clinton
Few figures have been quite as widely impersonated on “Saturday Night Live” as former first lady and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Throughout the series, nine comedians have given their own spin on a Clinton impression. Arguably the most recognizable rendition is Kate McKinnon’s, who played her throughout the 2016 election. While Clinton has mostly welcomed being mocked on the show, she has come clean about her true feeling about being impersonated. She’s stated that seeing herself caricatured is challenging to watch, and it’s caused her to occasionally re-evaluate some of her own mannerisms and tendencies.
#7: Kellyanne Conway
Another job well done by Kate McKinnon– well, it depends on who you ask, we suppose. Kellyanne Conway served as senior counsel to former President of the United States, Donald Trump. Conway has faced much criticism throughout her career, for example: coining the phrase “alternative facts” – a fancy way to say “lies.” McKinnon has played Conway many times on “SNL,” which has naturally caught the attention of the political consultant. Conway feels that the impression isn’t “happy” enough to be an accurate portrayal, and thinks McKinnon should have had a more upbeat disposition.
#6: Carole Baskin
You might not want to mess with this tiger queen– she scratches back. After the widespread popularity of the Netflix docuseries “Tiger King,” Carole Baskin– the eccentric CEO of Big Cat Rescue– was thrust into the spotlight. So during “Saturday Night Live”’’s very first quarantine episode in 2020, new featured player Chloe Fineman performed an incredible Baskin impression. However, Baskin disagrees– she said that she would “slap” Fineman for giving such a poor impersonation. Apparently, the popularity of the sketch has encouraged fans to request that Baskin sing in her virtual Cameos– something she claims she cannot do.
#5: Barbara Walters
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Celebrities have been getting upset by their portrayals on “Saturday Night Live” since its very first season. Exhibit A: Gilda Radner’s exaggerated impression of the broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. Radner emphasized her manner of speech, giving the character the name of “Baba Wawa.” When this hit the air, Walters was initially quite defensive. She disliked the way that Radner had altered her speaking patterns, and wasn’t happy about being identified by others as the character. However, over time she began to embrace the impression as a sign of her cultural relevance at the time.
#4: Sarah Palin
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This impression was so well done, it actually caused some confusion! Past “SNL” head writer Tina Fey had delivered such an iconic impression of the former Alaskan governor that the quote “I can see Russia from my house” was often misattributed to Palin herself. Fey went on to regularly play Palin on the show, and she ultimately decided that she wanted to set the record straight. Palin felt her impersonation was striking too hard at her intelligence and appeared on “Saturday Night Live” in an attempt to change the narrative.
#3: Kathie Lee Gifford
What’s the worst thing anyone can call a comedian? Unfunny, of course. Well, that’s precisely what former host of “The Today Show,” Kathie Lee Gifford, called Kristen Wiig after her impersonation of herself aired. Wiig played Gifford as a drunken mess, taking an extremely over-the-top approach to the impression. Gifford was not amused in the slightest. In reaction to the parody sketch, she suggested that Wiig should “get another job.”
#2: Donald Trump
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In “Saturday Night Live”’s defense, it’s pretty easy to upset this guy. Few public figures were worse sports about their “SNL” portrayal than Donald ‘No Longer President’ Trump. Played countless times by actor Alec Baldwin, the impression became fairly popular and was generally enjoyed by fans. But Trump was furious– he raged on Twitter about Baldwin’s impersonation, and even threatened to have the show investigated by the Federal Communications Commission. Because of his hatred for the impression, Trump declared the show to be “unwatchable.”
#1: Mark Wahlberg
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What an unexpected rivalry! On Season 34 of “SNL,” cast member Andy Samberg performed a very inoffensive impression of actor Mark Wahlberg in which he talks to various animals. But Wahlberg did not take kindly to it! He remarked that he didn’t find it to be very funny, and even threatened to punch Samberg for his portrayal. The following week on the show, Wahlberg made two cameos in reference to the controversy– one in which he and Samberg patch things up. He just may not say “hi to his mother” for him.
