As a writer and producer during one of Saturday Night Live’s most creative eras, Jorma Taccone regularly found himself navigating celebrity hosts bringing their own personalities into Studio 8H. One host in particular made a lasting impression on the Lonely Island star, and it echoes what others in Hollywood have experienced.
Taccone, who joined the show in 2005 alongside fellow Lonely Island members Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer, helped pioneer the show’s digital shorts as SNL leaned into the internet age. And by his account, most of the collaborations with guest hosts went smoothly.
“In general, I liked almost every host that came to SNL,” Taccone shared during a recent appearance on The Daily Beast’s Obsessed podcast. However, he admitted that there was one host "who [he] wasn’t super geeked on.”
"I’ve never said this before,” Taccone continued, before naming Kevin Spacey. Taccone did not go into detail, but made his discomfort clear. “I did not enjoy that, and felt very uncomfortable around him,” he said, declining to provide any more details on what exactly the actor did to create an uneasy environment for Taccone.
Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live for the second time in 2006. The episode already stood out as it marked the final episode for several longtime cast members, including Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz. Any behind-the-scenes whispers about the Oscar-winning actor at the time may have been overshadowed by those high-profile departures.
Taccone and Spacey likely would have collaborated directly on one particular sketch that aired during the May 20, 2006 episode. "Andy's Excuse" featured a frustrated Spacey listening to one ridiculous excuse after another from Andy Samberg to explain his tardiness.
Taccone’s comments come years after Spacey’s career was upended by multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp publicly accused Spacey of making a sexual advance toward him when Rapp was 14. The allegation prompted a wave of additional claims from other individuals, many connected to London’s Old Vic theatre, where Spacey had served as artistic director.
In 2022, a New York jury found him not liable in a civil case brought by Rapp. The following year, Spacey was acquitted of multiple sexual assault charges in a high-profile trial in the United Kingdom. Despite those legal outcomes, the allegations significantly damaged his standing in Hollywood, leading to his removal from projects including the Netflix series House of Cards.
Tacccone isn't the only Saturday Night Live personality to have an uncomfortable encounter with Spacey during his visit to the show. In 2022, Tina Fey revealed that Spacey tried to hit on her.
“This is the kind of weird thing that used to happen to me,” Fey said during the "Netflix Is a Joke" festival. “One time when he was hosting SNL, at the after-party, it was late and Kevin Spacey tried to hit on me. “I was like, ‘Who is this for? Who is this little performance for?’”
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