Rob Schneider is not afraid to share his candid opinions on Saturday Night Live, and those he’s worked with and watched on the show. After explaining the moment he thought the show was “over” a few months ago, he is now talking about how he thinks Bill Murray “hated” the ‘90s SNL cast, especially Chris Farley.
For some background, Murray starred in the early seasons of Saturday Night Live, from 1977 to 1980, along with comedians like Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Gilda Radner. Schneider came in from 1990 until 1994, and worked with Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, and many others. According to THR, Murray made two appearances on SNL in the ‘90s and hosted the show in 1994. While Schneider was being interviewed on The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show he talked about his experience working with Murray, and it appears it wasn’t good.
You don’t know which Bill Murray you’re going to get. The nice Bill Murray, you gonna get the tough Bill Murray, you know? He’s super nice to fans. He wasn’t very nice to us. He hated us on Saturday Night Live when he hosted. Absolutely hated us, I mean seething.
Schneider then went on to explain that one cast member Murray really hated was Chris Farley.
He hated Chris Farley with a passion. He was just seething looking at him. And I think – I don’t know exactly – but I wanna believe that it’s because Chris thought it was cool to be, you know, like Belushi. You know, his friend that he saw die, that it was cool to be that outta control. That’s my interpretation. But I don’t really know. I only believe it 50%. He just hated all of us pretty much.
What Schneider is referring to here is the comparison between Belushi and Farley. It’s widely known that the comedian known for Tommy Boy really looked up to the guy behind the Blues Brothers, and they both died of drug overdoses at the age of 33. The comedian theorized that since Murray was friends with Belushi, it was likely difficult to be around Farley, who was so similar. It’s important to note, Schneider said he only believes this about 50%, but he did double down on the fact that he thinks Muarry really hated the ‘90s cast.
He also said Murray really did not like Adam Sandler either. The comedian said, “the least of the hate was to me.” Schneider said that he “took pleasure” in that fact because Murray was his “hero.” When the interviewer asked how Schneider knew Murray hated them, he said there was an energy about him, and he could see the “naked rage.” He said he couldn’t put his finger on why he thought the Ghostbusters actor hated them, he said he just “wasn’t in the groove” with them.
Along with these claims about Murray, Schneider explained he thought SNL was over after seeing a sketch where Kate McKinnon sang “Hallelujah” has Hillary Clinton. Following this many alums from the show spoke out against the claim; Al Franken noted that people have been saying the show was going to end since its first season, so what Schneider said was “silly.” Alec Baldwin, who played Donald Trump on SNL throughout most of his presidency, also responded to the ‘90s cast member’s claim with snarky words.
SNL’s long history is full of many comedians, and I’d assume with each generation there are differences in how they work and what they think is funny. While Schneider has spoken out about the show, and those he worked with on it, Saturday Night Live has remained a staple of the Fall TV schedule and just started its 48th Season.
You can watch the latest season of SNL every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC, you can also watch every season of the classic sketch show (including Murray and Schneiders’ seasons) with a Peacock subscription.
