15 Famous People Who Loved Being Parodied On "SNL" And 10 Who Couldn't Take The Joke
Saturday Night Live has spoofed celebrities and politicians for nearly five decades. Some people are flattered by their impersonations on the show. However, others are not quite in on the joke.
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Here are 15 famous people who found their impersonations amusing:
1.Dr. Fauci
Dr. Fauci was played by Oscar-winning actor Brad Pitt. "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 healthcare workers," Dr. Fauci told Telemundo's Un Nuevo Dia. "So not only is he a really great actor, but he is actually a classy person." It's no wonder Fauci always responds "Brad Pitt" when asked who should play him in a movie!
2.Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Kate McKinnon portrayed an energetic and feisty Ruth Bader Ginsburg many times on the show! The impression quickly became a fan favorite. It turns out the Supreme Court justice was a fan too! Ginsburg said at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, “I liked the actress who portrayed me, and I would like to say ‘Gins-burned!’ sometimes to my colleagues.”
3.James Lipton
The Inside the Actors Studio host had nothing but good things to say about Will Ferrell's famous sketch. “I have never been so grateful in my life as I am to Will Ferrell,” James Lipton told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live.
4.Ellen DeGeneres
Kate McKinnon has impersonated Ellen in SNL sketches like "Jurassic Park Auditions," "Kid's Choice Awards Orange Carpet," and even on Ellen's own talk show! The pair presented a monologue together in matching outfits and danced through the audience to start the show. "I didn't like it. I’m just kidding — I’m Ellen!" DeGeneres joked with McKinnon about the impression.
5.Jennifer Aniston
When Jennifer Aniston first heard about Vanessa Bayer's impression on SNL, she was worried she was being mocked. "Everyone said it was a compliment, but I had to really get my brain around that and tuck my little tail between my legs, thinking I'm being made fun of," Aniston told InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown. "That's always the gut instinct: 'They're making fun of me.'" However, the Friends star warmed up to the impression and ate nachos with Bayer during a Weekend Update cameo!
6.Steve Harvey
Kenan Thompson hits the nail on the head each time he impersonates Steve Harvey. The Family Feud host is in on the joke, but never fails to throw a few punches Kenan's way. "We all know that Kenan's career is alive and well because of me," Harvey told Extra. "I want to kick his ass, but it's pretty funny though."
7.Miley Cyrus
Vanessa Bayer's Miley Cyrus impression sparked a recurring sketch titled "The Miley Cyrus Show." Cyrus even appeared in the sketch, but opted to play Justin Bieber instead of herself. When asked about how Miley felt about the impression, Bayer told Conan, "She's always so great about it." Bayer even gave Cyrus some tips at how to better play herself!
8.Bernie Sanders
Senator Bernie Sanders was honored by Larry David's spot-on impression of him. “I think we'll use Larry at our next rally. He does better than I do,” Sanders told ABC. Funnily enough, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star discovered he and Sanders were distant cousins while filming an episode of Finding Your Roots on PBS!
9.Denzel Washington
Jay Pharoah played Denzel Washington working at a retail counter in a sketch back in 2010. "I think the kid is very talented," Washington told Access Hollywood. "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."
10.Jennifer Lawrence
When Ariana Grande hosted SNL in 2017, she was praised for her impeccable portrayal of Jennifer Lawrence playing Celebrity Family Feud. While Lawrence insists she would never refer to herself as a "regular person" like Grande does in the sketch, she told Vogue the impression was "spot-fucking-on."
11.Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek was always a great sport about Saturday Night Live's recurring Jeopardy sketch. "I loved them," Trebek told the Television Academy. “It means you’ve arrived. If you do a take-off of somebody, it is a sign that you believe your audience will immediately recognize who you’re poking fun at." And while he loved Will Ferrell's impression, the game show host maintained Eugene Levy did the best Trebek ever.
12.Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart has been parodied by many comedians, but when someone asked her about her favorite impression on a Reddit AMA she replied, "Ana Gasteyer on SNL did a good job." Gasteyer reprised her impression of Martha time and time again on the show and even did a "Topless Christmas Special" in character!
13.Oprah Winfrey
Maya Rudolph absolutely nails her boisterous impression of Oprah Winfrey on SNL. After spoofing "Oprah's Favorite Things," Oprah invited Maya to appear on an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show titled "The Funniest People In America." Rudolph told Conan that Oprah liked the impression and was just happy to be played by a woman after previously being parodied by Tim Meadows.
14.George H.W. Bush
No one mastered President George H.W. Bush's unique cadence quite like Dana Carvey. So when Bush lost his re-election in 1992, he invited Carvey to the White House as a moral booster for his staff. "I was staying in the Lincoln bedroom last night and I couldn't resist picking up the phone, and I called up the Secret Service as the president. 'Feel like going jogging tonight — in the nude,'" Carvey told CBS. Carvey and the Bushes maintained a friendship until the former president died in 2018.
15.Donatella Versace
Maya Rudolph's famous Donatella Versace impression was featured in sketches like "Donatella Versace Goes Skiing" and "Versace Pockets." Versace found the impression humorous and even called Rudolph with pointers. "I talked to her on the phone once, and I gave her a suggestion on how to do me better," said Versace on The View.
And here are 10 famous people who weren't fans:
16.Sarah Palin
Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin throughout the 2008 presidential election was a knockout. Despite SNL poking fun at her expense, the Alaska governor made an appearance alongside Fey in an episode that drew 14 million views! "I know that they portrayed me as an idiot, and I hated that, and I wanted to come on the show and counter some of that," Palin said about her appearance.
17.Carole Baskin
Tiger King's Carole Baskin was not at all impressed when Chloe Fineman parodied her on the sketch show. “I could just slap that woman," Baskin told The Pet Show podcast. "That is not how I speak.”
18.Justin Bieber
Kate McKinnon famously parodied Justin Bieber's 2015 Calvin Klein's campaign. “Bieber wasn’t too upset by my impression of him, but he wasn’t pleased," McKinnon shared in Live From New York: An Uncensored History Of Saturday Night Live.
19.Kathie Lee Gifford
Fans of SNL always enjoyed when Kristen Wiig spoofed Today's Kathie Lee Gifford. Gifford on the other hand was not pleased by Wiig's tipsy portrayal. "Can't she get another job?" Kathie asked Hoda. "Go off and do something else?"
20.Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg was not thrilled by Andy Samberg's impression of him in the sketch "Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals." Despite audiences loving the skit, Wahlberg thought it could have been better, especially as a fan of Samberg. "I met him in Canada when he was shooting that movie Hot Rod, and I liked Hot Rod,” Wahlberg told MTV. “Hot Rod was funnier than that skit, I thought. I just wish it was a little bit funnier.”
21.Donald Trump
It's no secret Donald Trump wasn't pleased by Alec Baldwin's impression of him on SNL. The pair consistently made public jabs at each other on Twitter. Trump once wrote, "Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch.” However, audiences and critics disagreed with Trump and Baldwin took home the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
22.Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters did not appreciate Gilda Radner's iconic "Baba Wawa" sketch. Naturally, Walters specifically disliked the mockery of her speech impediment. However, after Gilda's death in 1989, Walters came around to the portrayal. "Gilda was so wonderful; the sketch immortalized me," she told The News. "But at the time I wasn't so thrilled."
23.Ivanka Trump
Scarlett Johansson stared as Ivanka in a sketch titled "Complicit," a parody perfume ad that called out Ivanka for her role in her father's presidency. Omarosa Manigault Newman wrote about Ivanka's reaction to the sketch in her book Unhinged. "We’d all been hit, many of us in the same week’s show. But Ivanka would not stop talking about being ribbed. Like her father, Ivanka was thin-skinned and could not seem to take a joke."
24.Neil deGrasse Tyson
The astrophysicist found that Kenan Thompson's portrayal of him in a Fox and Friends sketch left much to be desired. Tyson shared with Insider what he would say to executive producer Lorne Michaels about the parody: "'Lorne, I'm honored and flattered that you would think of representing me, particularly in that context on Fox News. But I think your comedians and actors have more accurately portrayed other people than he [Kenan] portrayed me. So there's some room for improvement."
25.And, Sean Spicer
Melissa McCarthy made waves with her hilarious impression of Sean Spicer. Yet, the former press secretary didn't take too kindly to some of the sketches. "I think that there were parts of it that were funny, but there's a lot of it that was over the line," Spicer told Sean Hannity. "It wasn't funny. It was stupid, or silly, or malicious."
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