Earlier Saturday Night Live star Bill Murray was not the warmest host when he returned in 1993, according to colleague SNL alum Rob Schneider. On Thursday, Schneider appeared as a guest on The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show on SiriusXM. When we talked about how actor Robert Shaw had been abrasive on the set of… jawsSchneider claimed Murray was similarly obnoxious backstage at SNL, to the point where he’s “seething” with hatred towards the new cast members. Here’s how Schneider put it, per THR:
“It’s the same with Bill Murray. I won’t say who the filmmaker was, but ‘Bill Murray is going to come, he’s going to change the…dialogue. He’s going to change things, and it’s going to be great, but you don’t know who you’re going to get. Which Bill Murray you’re going to get. The nice Bill Murray? Or will you get hold of the tough Bill Murray?’ He is super nice to fans. He was not very nice to us. … He wasn’t very – he hated us on Saturday Night Live when he hosted. Absolute hated U.S. I mean, seething.”
Schneider went on to claim that Murray especially disliked the late actor Chris Farley, who was one of the show’s hottest stars. For his part, Schneider theorizes that this was because Farley was inspired by John Belushi. Though Schneider admits he’s not entirely sure, but that’s how he read the situation.
“He hated Chris Farley with a passion. Like he just looked at him seething. I don’t know exactly, but I want to believe it’s because Chris thought it was cool to be Belushi, who [was] his friend he saw die, that he thought it was cool to get out of hand like that. That’s my interpretation, but I’m not exactly sure. I do not believe it. I only believe in it 50 percent.”
Bill Murray Wasn’t Adam Sandler’s Biggest Fan, Says Rob Schneider
According to Schneider, Murray wasn’t particularly fond of Adam Sandler either. Schneider suggests that Sandler’s style of comedy, which often involved playing his guitar and singing comedic songs to the audience, didn’t appeal to Murray much. The good news for Sandler is that everyone who watched seemed to enjoy it.
“(Murray) really hated Sandler too… he just didn’t like it, you know? And Sandler was just committed to it, and just like… as soon as he went through, you could see the audience eating him.”
This news comes as Murray’s name has already been in the recent headlines for controversial reasons. It was reported that he had just settled a lawsuit for an alleged assault. Meanwhile, Schneider has also recently been critical of SNL recently for other reasons. He cited a political sketch featuring Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton as the moment when SNL died, claiming that taking a political side was the show’s downfall.
You can see Schneider talking about Murray on The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show in the YouTube video below.