Julia Sweeney, a former cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” recently shared an anecdote about her Chelsea Clinton impression in 1993. Sweeney revealed that her portrayal sparked a dissatisfied response from Hillary Clinton, who was the First Lady at the time and would later serve as Secretary of State.
Reflecting on the incident, Sweeney expressed her understanding of Hillary’s perspective, especially now that she is a parent herself. Sweeney jokingly commented, “It’s like, ‘Yeah, back off.’ I mean, you shouldn’t target children. That was wrong, and she was right in calling it out.”
Sweeney clarified that the criticism she received for her portrayal of Chelsea centered around her physical appearance. In the sketch, Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks portrayed President Bill Clinton and Hillary, respectively. Sweeney explained, “People were saying how unattractive I looked while playing Chelsea, but all I did was refrain from wearing makeup and wore braces. If you’re criticizing that, you’re essentially calling me unattractive. Perhaps that’s true, but my intention wasn’t to represent her as unattractive.”
Despite the controversy, Sweeney never reprised her role as Chelsea Clinton on “SNL.” However, the show did make fun of the former first daughter’s looks in a 1992 sketch of “Wayne’s World.” The following year, Mike Myers, who played Wayne in the recurring sketch, apologized to the Clintons.
Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator and executive producer, acknowledged the mistake and expressed regret over potentially hurting Chelsea. He stated, “Upon reflection, we realized that if it caused any harm, it wasn’t worth it. She’s just a kid who didn’t choose to be in the public eye.”
In a recent episode of the Apple TV+ series “Gutsy,” Chelsea and her mother, Hillary, discussed the incident. Chelsea expressed her disapproval, saying, “When SNL made fun of me, I thought, ‘Wow. A group of adults sat in a room and thought this was a good idea.’ Nobody questioned whether making fun of children was appropriate.”
She further added, “I just don’t find it funny or acceptable. So, I don’t think comedy that targets children is amusing or acceptable.”
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