10 celebrities who were fired from 'Saturday Night Live' and went on to become stars

Comedian Adam Sandler joined the cast of "SNL" in 1991 and was a staple on the show until 1995, creating famous characters like Opera Man. After his fifth year, Michaels gave Sandler and his friend, Chris Farley, the boot, according to Vanity Fair.

"Yes, we were [fired]," Sandler told the Daily Beast in 2017. "We kind of quit at the same time as being fired. It was the end of the run for us."

But that didn't spell the end for Sandler, as he went on to become a comedic movie star. He starred in cult classics like "Happy Gilmore," "Waterboy," "The Wedding Singer," and "Mr. Deeds." In 2019, his movie, "Murder Mystery," with Jennifer Aniston became the most-watched movie on Netflix that year.

There was also Oscar buzz for his performance in the 2019 crime thriller "Uncut Gems." Although he ultimately wasn't nominated for an Academy Award, he did go on to win multiple other awards for the role, including Best Male Lead at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards.

Chris Rock became a cast member in 1990 and remained on the show for three seasons. In 1993, he was let go from the show because he wanted to join a different sketch series called "In Living Color."

In 2019, Rock returned to "SNL" to joke about his firing in a song with Adam Sandler. "I was fired by NBC," Rock sang. "I went on 'In Living Color,' three weeks later they took it off TV."

But that wasn't the end of Rock's career. The comedian went on to be a successful stand-up and later created his popular sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris." He has also starred in movies like "Grown Ups," the "Madagascar" franchise, and "I Think I Love My Wife."

In 1981, Laurie Metcalf made her debut on "Saturday Night Live" but appeared in only one episode. The show immediately went on hiatus for a writers' strike, and Metcalf was not asked back when the show returned, according to Variety.

However, Metcalf has since been nominated for an Academy Award for her role in "Ladybird," as well as for 11 Emmys (winning three) for her roles in "Roseanne," "Getting On," and "The Big Bang Theory," among others, and for three Golden Globes. She has also won two Tonys.

Sarah Silverman joined "SNL" in 1993 as a writer and cast member, perfecting her Cher and Joan Rivers impersonations. At the end of her season, however, she was let go from the show. In fact, she said she was fired via fax, The Washington Post reported.

Silverman quickly made a name for herself in the comedy world outside of "SNL." She became famous for her brash stand-up comedy, for which she earned an Emmy award. Her Hulu talk show, "I Love You, America," was nominated for two Emmys before getting canceled in 2018.

In 1985, Michaels hired 20-year-old Robert Downey Jr. for the 11th season, but the actor only lasted one year. Downey has never said he was "fired" per se but did admit he was "ill-suited" to the show.

"I learned so much in that year about what I wasn't," Downey told Off Camera in 2019. "I was not somebody who was going to come up with a catchphrase. I was not somebody who was going to do impressions. I was somebody who was very ill-suited for rapid-fire sketch comedy. I was like this seems really hard."

After his brief stint on "SNL," he went on to star in several movies like "Weird Science" and "Less Than Zero."

After serving time in prison and battling drug addiction, Downey became the face of the billion-dollar Marvel franchise as Iron Man. For "Avengers: Endgame" the actor reportedly earned $75 million.

Damon Wayans was hired in 1985, but only lasted one season because he decided to turn a straight character into a flamboyant gay man without running the character edit by producers. Michaels fired Wayans for insubordination, according to GQ.

"I knew I was going to get fired for it. Lorne did the right thing," Wayans told The Weekender in 2015.

But that didn't spell the end for Wayans. Instead, he went on to star in the sketch comedy show "In Living Color" for three seasons. In the early 2000s, he starred in his own sitcom, "My Wife and Kids." Most recently, he played Roger in the "Lethal Weapon" reboot.

Jenny Slate joined the cast in 2009, but she only lasted one season before she was fired. Despite rumors she lost her job over dropping the f-bomb during her first ever sketch, she told InStyle in 2019 that wasn't true. "I just didn't belong there. I didn't do a good job," she said.

That said, according to Slate, she never spoke to Michaels when her time was up.

"Lorne and I never talked when I was fired at the end of the season. I got the news online. I've still never watched the clip of my f--- up," Slate told Glamour in 2014. "That'd be like watching yourself fall down the aisle at your wedding! I feel like it happened to somebody else, and I want to tell her, 'Oh, girl. I'm so sorry, but you need to move on.'"

Although she said it felt like her career was over, she and her then-husband created the popular YouTube series "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On." She also earned recurring roles on the "Kroll Show," "Parks and Recreation," and "Big Mouth." More recently, she starred in "Obvious Child" and "Landline."

In 1985, producer and creator Lorne Michaels returned to produce "SNL" after a short hiatus. He wanted an entirely new cast, and Joan Cusack was part of it. Unfortunately, that season of "SNL," its 11th, had unprecedentedly low ratings, and Michaels ended up firing most of the new cast, including Cusack, according to US magazine.

However, she went on to become an A-list actress. Just two years after her "SNL" departure, Cusack was nominated for an Academy Award in "Working Girl." In 1997, she was nominated again for "In & Out," and she has been racking up Emmy nominations for her role in Showtime's "Shameless."

In 2004, Michaels hired Rob Riggle, a former US marine. On the show, he impersonated Toby Keith and Howard Dean, but at the end of the season, Riggle was let go, the Daily Beast reports.

"This is the first showbiz gig I ever got so it's overwhelming to begin with," Riggle told the Daily Beast in 2019. "It's an unbelievable pace and pressure, and I got to a point where I didn't even know what was funny anymore by the end of the season."

His comedy career didn't end there, however. Riggle went on to become a correspondent on the "Daily Show," and is now a commentator on FOX NFL Sunday.

Michaela Watkins joined the cast in 2008 but only lasted one season before Michaels let her go.

"The only explanation I got from him — and he's not known to say things just to make people feel better — was that he felt deep down that I should have my own show," Watkins told Entertainment Weekly at the time. "And I agreed. 'SNL' was a dream come true for me. It was a fantastic year. I don't have any regrets."

Although Watkins never got her own show, she did appear in several series and movies, including "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "New Girl," "Easy," "Transparent," and "The Goldbergs." Recently, she's appeared in the Netflix movie "Ibiza," the Hulu series "Casual," and the CBS series "The Unicorn."

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