‘Saturday Night Live’: Bill Murray Had ‘Seething Hatred’ for ‘SNL’ Cast, Especially Adam Sandler and Chris Farley
Actor Bill Murray originally got his television start on Saturday Night Live, but he would later go on to star in some of the biggest comedy movies around. Caddyshack, Tootsie, Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and the list goes on. Nevertheless, Murray still returned to Saturday Night Live to host a number of times, even though actor Rob Sneider alleged that the comedy legend ‘hated’ the cast.
Bill Murray starred on ‘Saturday Night Live’ as a cast member and host
Before Murray starred on Saturday Night Live, he got his start with an improvisation comedy troupe and was on The National Lampoon Radio Hour. However, his growing career was only just beginning, as he got on NBC’s late-night sketch show.
He starred as a cast member for four years between 1976 and 1980, where he played characters such as Brian Welles, Dick Lanky, and Honker. His first role in a feature film was 1979’s Meatballs, where he would continue to star in motion pictures thereafter.
Nevertheless, Murray returned back to Saturday Night Live as a host five times between 1981 and 1999.
Rob Schneider alleged that Bill Murray had ‘seething hatred’ for ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast members
According to an interview on SiriusXM’s The Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show, Schneider alleged that Murray had a “seething hatred” for Saturday Night Live cast members. However, these intense feelings were especially aimed toward Adam Sandler and Chris Farley. The conversation started when talking about supposed on-set difficulties with Robert Show on Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.
“I won’t say who the filmmaker was, but ‘Bill Murray is gonna come, he’s gonna change the … dialogue,'” Schneider recalled. “‘He’s gonna change things, and it’s gonna be great, but you don’t know who you’re gonna get. Which Bill Murray you’re gonna get. The nice Bill Murray? Or you’re gonna get the tough Bill Murray?’ He’s super nice to fans. He wasn’t very nice to us. …He wasn’t very — he hated us on Saturday Night Live when he hosted. Absolutely hated us. I mean, seething.”
Schneider continued: “He hated Chris Farley with a passion. Like he was just seething looking at him. I don’t know exactly, but I want to believe that it’s because Chris thought it was cool to be Belushi, who [was] his friend who he saw die, that he thought it was cool to be that out of control. That’s my interpretation, but I don’t really know. I don’t believe it. I only believe it 50 percent.”
Additionally, Schneider alleged that Murray “really hated Sandler, too.” He thought that it was because the audience loved Sandler’s ability to commit himself to the bit, but he couldn’t get into it.
The ‘Lost in Translation’ actor is under fire for on-set misconduct
Saturday Night Live stories from the past aren’t the only reason why Murray is in the news. According to Puck, he had a once-secret $100,000 settlement due to workplace misconduct on Aziz Ansari’s Being Mortal movie set. Murray reportedly thought an unnamed production staff member was flirting with him, so he started kissing her body and straddled her.
The staffer agreed to maintain their confidentiality and not make any legal claims against the film’s producers as part of the settlement.
