Jason Sudeikis admits that he publicly hated on Saturday Night Live before he was hired on the show and became a beloved cast member. Sudeikis was first hired on SNL in 2003 as a writer. By 2005, he had been hired as a cast member and served as a regular on the show until 2013. By 2011 he had his film breakthrough as Kurt Buckman in Horrible Bosses. He went on to star in We're The Millers and Horrible Bosses 2 before gaining critical acclaim with Ted Lasso.

While appearing on Hot Ones, Sudeikis admitted that he did publicly dismiss SNL before appearing on the show. He owned up to it because Bob Odenkirk has also been open about being dissatisfied with the show.

Sudeikis did explain, though, that his hatred for the show largely came from a place of "youthful ignorance and arrogance." He thought he would never have a shot at being on the show, so he decided to hate it for that reason. Check out his statement below:

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’? 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.’

Saturday Night Live Alums Who Criticized The Show

While Sudeikis' "hating" of the show wasn't quite serious, other alums have been genuinely critical of the show. Sudeikis mentioned one former cast member, Odenkirk, who shared similar feelings. While Odenkirk is best known for starring in Mr.Show, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul, he got his start on SNL, serving as a writer from 1987 to 1995. After leaving, he admitted that he left because of creative differences and difficulties with host Steven Seagal. He also slammed SNL's Chris Farley "Chippendales" sketch for trying to use Farley's insecurities for laughs.

Pete Davidson is another SNL alum who thought the show went too far at some points. Davidson left SNL in 2022 after a six-year stint as a cast member. Mostly, he had a problem with the show poking fun at its own cast members. He recalled being made to feel like a "loser" when the show constantly used his love life and other aspects to make fun of him. However, aside from these criticisms, he has still described his experiences on SNL as being largely positive.

Janeane Garofalo is another alum who expressed dislike for the nature of SNL's comedy. The comedian had a much shorter stint on the show than Davidson and Odenkirk but described the show as not being what she anticipated and disagreeing with the kind of juvenile humor it utilized. Other celebrities like Leslie Jackson, Harry Shearer, and Jay Mohr have also expressed dissatisfaction with their time on SNL. They have hinted at a poor work environment with heavy workloads, mistreatment of cast members, and disorganization. Even though Sudeikis owns up to "hating" it shows that alums aren't required to hide their varied feelings about Saturday Night Live.

Source: Hot Ones