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Comedian Jorma Taccone, a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island, has disclosed that Kevin Spacey was the one Saturday Night Live host he was not enthusiastic about working with during his tenure on the show.
Taccone was part of the trio alongside Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer, which produced digital shorts for SNL from 2005 to 2011. As the late-night series began integrating internet culture into its comedy, the group interacted with the show's cast, weekly guest hosts, and musical acts.
“In general, I liked almost every host that came to SNL,” Taccone, 49, said on Friday's episode of The Daily Beast's podcast Obsessed. However, he admitted there was one celebrity he “wasn't super geeked on.”
“I've never said this before,” Taccone confessed before revealing he was referring to Spacey, 66, who hosted SNL for the second time in May 2006 with musical guest Nelly Furtado. The “I'm On A Boat” co-writer recalled: “I did not enjoy that, and felt very uncomfortable around him.” Taccone did not provide further details.
Spacey, a once-celebrated two-time Oscar winner, was ostracised from mainstream Hollywood in 2017 after multiple men accused him of sexual misconduct. He has consistently denied all allegations and maintained his innocence.
In 2022, the Usual Suspects actor was cleared by a jury in a $40 million civil lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp, who accused Spacey of molesting him when he was 14. Spacey was then tried in London in 2023 on nine alleged sex offence allegations from four men and was acquitted on all counts.
Last month, Spacey reached civil settlements with three men out of court over further sexual assault allegations dating from between 2000 and 2013.
Representatives for Spacey did not immediately respond to The Independent's request for comment on Taccone's statement.
Taccone is not the only SNL cast member to recount an uncomfortable experience during the House of Cards actor's hosting stint. In 2022, Tina Fey revealed at the Netflix is a Joke comedy festival in Los Angeles that Spacey had flirted with her years before he came out as gay in response to the sexual assault allegations against him in 2017.
“This is the kind of weird thing that used to happen to me,” Fey said at the time. “One time when he was hosting SNL, at the after-party, it was late and Kevin Spacey tried to hit on me.” She joked that she doubted his attraction to her, saying: “I was like, ‘Who is this for? Who is this little performance for?’”
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