For years, it was believed that one-time Saturday Night Live co-stars Norm Macdonald and Chris Kattan didn’t particularly care for one another. A number of stories have come out since their tenure on the show that would seem to confirm that there was some kind of rift.
According to Will Ferrell, Macdonald once stole Kattan’s shoes while the two were on a flight from L.A. to New York, forcing Kattan to have to walk through JFK Airport barefoot. It wasn’t until Macdonald and Kattan were fighting backstage at SNL the following season that Macdonald finally admitted what he’d done.
Then there’s Jim Breuer’s famous story about Macdonald messing with Kattan while they were working on a Twilight Zone sketch Kattan had written. During rehearsals for the 1997 parody, Macdonald, who was playing Twilight Zone host Rod Serling, refused to make an effort to sound like Serling. This drove Kattan crazy, especially when they shot the dress show before the live broadcast, and Macdonald still just read the lines in his normal voice.
Mere seconds before the show went on the air that night, with Kattan continuing to complain, Macdonald announced to everyone there that Kattan was secretly gay, hence explaining why he was so angry all the time. Macdonald then proceeded to do a spot-on Serling impression, to everybody’s surprise:
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Chris Kattan Says He and Norm Macdonald Were Never Really Feuding After All
Rumors of a feud were perpetuated by Macdonald and Kattan taking shots at each other in the press. In November 1997, Macdonald spoke to Rolling Stone about Kattan, telling them, “I don’t know, but to me he seems gay.” Macdonald went on to say, “He claims he’s not, but I’ve never seen, like, a guy who’s not gay seem so gay. I don’t find him funny. What can I say? Never made me laugh.” Kattan responded by saying, “If Norm says I’m gay, then put in that I say he’s an asshole.”
However, following Macdonald’s death in 2021, Kattan swore that it was all for show. In reality, he insists that the two had a “comedic love” for each other, and compared their public sparring to the faux feud between early radio comics Jack Benny and Fred Allen. While some may question the validity of Kattan’s statements, given that Macdonald is no longer around to confirm it, a behind-the-scenes video of the pair joking around on the set of 2010’s Hollywood & Wine would at least appear to indicate that they were on good terms at that stage in their careers. You can take a look at the clip in question right here.
The post The Surprising Truth About Norm Macdonald and Chris Kattan’s ‘SNL’ Feud, According to Chris Kattan appeared first on VICE.
