Robert Smigel Defends Chris Farley Chippendales Sketch on 'SNL' | THR News - video Dailymotion

The writer, who wrote the 'Saturday Night Live' sketch, told Howard Stern the classic moment was misunderstood.

Transcript

00:00Robert Smigel is defending the classic Saturday Night Live Chippendale sketch starring the late

00:09Chris Farley. The famous sketch performed in 1990 featured Farley and the late Patrick Swayze

00:15dueling for a spot in the male striptease show. In recent years, however, the sketch has come

00:19under fire for how it presented the two performers and their different body types,

00:23with Farley being the butt of the joke. Many have suggested the sketch perhaps fueled or

00:28added to Farley's mental health, self-destructive behavior and substance abuse. However, Smigel on

00:34Wednesday dropped by the Howard Stern show where he defended the classic sketch and said he was in a

00:38debate about it with people who had written Chris Farley's book. I think somebody in the book said

00:43something like that sketch was the first step in killing him. The writer pointed out that Farley

00:48was incredibly nimble and actually a great dancer. In a way, it was like a very empowering sketch and

00:54I think that's what people felt the first time they watched it. Stern also argued the moment showed

00:59that Farley was an amazing physical comedian. Smigel agreed. I mean, he was the most explosively

01:04funny person. I think most people who worked at that time would agree with that. To watch the full

01:09clip, head to the article on THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.