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Amy Poehler confronts Saturday Night Live appropriation

Amy Poehler confronts Saturday Night Live appropriation
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Amy Poehler has confronted the controversies that have damaged the legacy of Saturday Night Live.

The iconic American weekend comedy show has won awards for breaking new comedy ground over the past 50 years - but also has past sketches that have not aged well.

Speaking to Will Forte on the Good Hang podcast, 53-year-old Poehler admitted many sketches are clouded in shame when regarded through the lens of 2025.

She said, "That's the part about getting older and being in comedy is you have to figure out, it's like, everything has an expiration date.

"Even on the 50th (SNL anniversary episode) when they had that segment which was like, 'Here's all the ways we got things wrong,' and they showed way inappropriate casting for people."

The segment in question raked over past sketches that contained problematic content like stereotypes, sexual harassment, animal cruelty, body shaming, and stars using make-up to appear as a different race.

The Parks and Recreation star admitted, "We all played people that we should not have played. I misappropriated, I appropriated, I didn't know, I did know, like it's very real."

She added that she hoped to gain forgiveness and grow as a performer, saying, "The best thing you can do is make repair, learn from your mistakes, do better. Like, it's all you can do."

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