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Leslie Jones Says SNL Repeatedly Typecast Her as an 'Angry' Black Woman

She says writers dismissed her objections by citing sketch success, a dynamic she argues shows how the show's system can limit roles for Black comics.

Overview

  • Jones told The Sam Sanders Show that SNL writers often cast her as an angry or aggressive character and that she repeatedly asked them to “stop writing me like that.”
  • She said writers responded that the sketches were “successful,” which kept the pattern in place despite her objections.
  • Jones said she raised concerns about racial undertones with SNL creator Lorne Michaels and added that misogyny at the show felt heavier than racism to her.
  • She described her five-year tenure as “bittersweet,” said she stayed because she wanted to be on the show, and that she does not miss the “mental part” of the job.
  • Reporting so far amplifies Jones’s firsthand account and notes no public rebuttal or new policy response from SNL or NBC, while her remarks feed into wider debates about representation and writers’ control at long-running sketch programs.