Adam Sandler is one of the most recognizable actors and comedians of today. He is one of the very few stars who can effortlessly shift between comedic and dramatic roles. Like many of his peers, Sandler was part of the cast of the iconic Saturday Night Live. SNL is a long-running NBC live variety and sketch-comedy series. His tenure there began in 1990 and concluded in 1995, and people have long wondered why Sandler was fired from SNL.
Did Adam Sandler get fired from SNL and why?
Yes, Adam Sandler was fired from SNL. During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien in 2010, Sandler spoke about the circumstances surrounding his and fellow cast member Chris Farley’s departure from Saturday Night Live.
“I got fired,” Sandler told O’Brien, who was in the process of leaving NBC at the time. During the interview, Sandler recalled that his manager told him to find “something else to do” before SNL formally sacked him. “I like it here,” the Happy Gilmore actor remembered telling his manager. “Then Farley ran into my office, saying ‘We’re getting fired.'” (via NY Daily News)
Sandler and Farley left SNL between seasons 20 and 21. In 2014, Sandler told The Daily Beast that he and Farley “kind of quit at the same time as being fired. It was the end of the run for us.” (via Cinema Blend)
In 2023, Sandler told The Hollywood Reporter that series creator Lorne Michaels was great to him and Farley. However, Michaels apparently claimed that there were “new people” at NBC who didn’t like the comedians. “It was kind of like them asking us to quit. There were new people at the network. And apparently they didn’t like me and Chris, so they kind of said goodbye to us in a nice way,” Sandler elaborated. “Lorne was great to us, he wanted to protect us,” he clarified.
Farley passed away in 1997 after securing his place among the great cinematic comedians. Meanwhile, Sandler returned to SNL in Season 44 (2018-2019) as a host.
