Disgraced NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams was the butt of several jokes on Saturday Night Live’s 40th Anniversary Special. Jim Carrey, Jerry Seinfeld and even former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani got into the act during an interview on the red carpet.
In retelling a story about who came up with his funny line on the first Saturday Night Live after the September 11 attacks, the former mayor clarified to Carson Daly it was SNL producer Lorne Michaels who fed him the joke. Giuliani wanted to make sure that in the midst of “Brian Williams, all this stuff” that he wasn’t caught telling a Williams-esque fib.
The following exchange was aired on NBC’s February 15 Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Red Carpet Special:
CARSON DALY: You know, just three short weeks after 9/11 - your always mayor to me I gotta say - you said that this institution needs to, needs to continue and get back in business and it did. Tell me about that night.
RUDY GIULIANI: Well I thought that was one of the most patriotic moments for this show, maybe for America, very unifying. Lorne [Michaels] gave me a great line. As we finished God Bless America, he came up to me and he said “Is it all right if we are funny?” I said “Oh I guess you could try to start now.” And, but it was his - I want to make sure, you know Brian Williams, all this stuff. I want to make sure you understand that was his line. He wrote it. I read it. I was not smart enough to have that line.
