The new book by senior entertainment reporter Maureen Ryan, Burn It Down: A Call for Power, Complexity and Change in Hollywood, reveals the troubled work environments behind some of our favorite shows. Was there any doubt that he would take down Lorne Michaels and her late-night monster? Saturday night live?
Before the release of Ryan’s book, Show Fair He published an excerpt in which Damon Lindelof claimed racism and poisoning on set. Loss. Tuesday, Hollywood Reporter He published another excerpt in which Ryan discussed his infamous, all-consuming, pressure-filled work environment. SNL-and an old fan’s claim that Horatio Sanz had been grooming him from the age of 15 before sexually assaulting him at the age of 17. (In 2021, Sanz’s attorney Andrew Brettler called Doe’s allegations “categorically false”; THR notes that the case was settled last fall.)
“Michaels’ long tenure as a strong player and SNL“The enduring importance of ‘ ‘s lasting significance is entwined with a culture of impunity in the comedy world,” Ryan writes, “where abuse and toxicity are not only allowed but often celebrated.”
Many reports and books over the years have documented the emotional turmoil behind the scenes in 2011. SNL, But as Ryan observes, none of the reports – at least for its creator – seem to be permanent.
“I was kind of living Mad Max: Furious Road– a bat- or facial-style environment that is completely unrelated to my well-being and happiness and sense of security and just my overall holistic health,” an old SNL “The environment can be incredibly reluctant, even for a straight white man,” the author told Ryan.
Janeane Garofalo, who left the show mid-year during the 1994-1995 season, recalled once waiting for Michaels in her office for hours. “You showed him your weakness,” she remembered thinking. “You showed him that you would wait four or five hours and accept. Here is your first mistake that will make him not respect you.
Describing how Garofalo was treated while he was on the show, SNL Writer Rosie Schuster told Ryan, “There are no words for when you castrate a female … But that’s the feeling I got watching what happened to Janeane.” Cheri Oteri, who starred on the show from 1995 to 2000, told Ryan that her first three years on the show were “messy”: “There was no escape, so I was crying all the time.” And former cast member Julia Sweeney said that while her first few years on the show were “fantastic”, her final year was “one of the worst years” of her life.
Ryan also spoke with Jane Doe, who filed a lawsuit against Horatio Sanz and NBC in 2021, claiming that Sanz “harassed me everywhere” in an interview with The Daily Beast. SNLShe claims that Sanz touched her breasts and genitals in front of several people when she was 17. SNL cast at one of the show’s later parties. The interview, perhaps, requires more responsibility than others.
“Sanz was clearly following me, physically following me at these parties for years,” Doe told Ryan. “If I had seen my colleague do this with a young fan, I would have definitely intervened or I would have stepped into the chain of command and asked for something to be done.”
representatives for SNL He did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.