‘The View’s’ Meghan McCain Talks About Interning on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and Recalls Ashlee Simpson’s Infamous Performance Fail
Meghan McCain of The View got her start in television on the campaign trail with her father, the late Senator John McCain, and had a chance to cut her teeth at one of NBC’s most iconic shows. Serving as an intern on Saturday Night Live while in college at Columbia University, McCain got a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes action of the legendary comedy sketch show.
In a previous interview, The View co-host recalled some memories of her internship including when Ashlee Simpson got caught lip-synching.
Aidy Bryant nailed her take on the ‘Queen of Arizona’
As fans of SNL know, the comedy show will often parody popular television personalities and give their own unique spin on a person’s mannerisms. Last year, SNL performed their version of The View, with Kate McKinnon as Joy Behar, Melissa Villaseñor as Ana Navarro, Aidy Bryant as McCain, Leslie Jones as Whoopi Goldberg, and Cecily Strong as Abby Huntsman. Bryant, who is also a native Arizonian, immediately mimicked McCain’s devotion to her home state.
“Can I just say something as the Princess of Arizona?” Bryant, as McCain, said in the segment, according to Newsweek. “There is a crisis at the border, and the border is right up in my Arizona.”
McCain was in awe of Bryant’s spot-on impression and took to social media to applaud the actress. “I’m not supposed to be on twitter because of hiatus BUT this sketch is hilarious, and being parodied by @SNL is a huge pop cultural honor,” she tweeted. “Signed, your old intern and ‘the princess of Arizona.’”
Ashlee Simpson gets snagged
In a 2012 interview with Playboy, McCain was asked about her intern experience at Saturday Night Live and if there were any memories that stood out during her time working behind the scenes.
“Ashlee Simpson kicking her dressing room door after getting caught lip-synching,” The View co-host revealed, referring to the singer’s 2004 performance on the show. “That was interesting to watch.”
Yet despite SNL’s notoriety, McCain shared that her role primarily consisted of running errands for SNL’s executive producer. “Mostly I remember being a sort of office slave, which was fine,” she explained. “I was an assistant to Lorne Michaels’s assistant, so I spent most of the day getting coffee and filling up the popcorn bucket.”
Still, McCain is grateful for the experience and thinks interning can serve as a great lesson to students about the not-so-glamourous aspects of high-pressure jobs. “I think everybody should have a crappy internship so they realize what a b**** it is getting other people’s s*** work done,” the television personality said.
RELATED: ‘The View’s’ Meghan McCain Gives a Great Response to a Fat Shamer on Twitter
How Meghan McCain wants to be remembered
McCain went on a more journalistic path after her SNL internship and graduating college, serving as a political commentator and writer for many years. When she was offered a seat at The View table in 2017, McCain was hesitant.
“I didn’t want to join,” she told Ramin Setoodah in his book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of ‘The View.’ “I thought it looked like there was too much turnover. It wasn’t the iconic show I watched when I was in college. I originally said no when they asked me, and my dad convinced me to do it.”
Now an established high-profile member of the panel, McCain would prefer to be remembered for her conservative roots rather than her time on the iconic NBC late-night show. “I hope it’s in my obituary that I was the first Republican since Elisabeth Hasselbeck to survive more than one season on The View,” she said. “It’s one of my proudest moments.”
