Amy Poehler Reflects on Controversial SNL Moments: “Everything Has an Expiration Date”

Comedian and former Saturday Night Live star Amy Poehler is opening up about the changing landscape of comedy — and how some of her past performances wouldn’t fly today.

On the latest episode of her podcast Good Hang, Poehler joined fellow SNL alum Will Forte to discuss the evolution of comedy, including moments from their careers that now make them cringe. Poehler, 52, didn’t shy away from acknowledging that some of her jokes from earlier decades would be considered offensive by current standards.

“Getting older and being in comedy means recognizing that everything has an expiration date,” she said. “What was once considered edgy or funny may now be seen as inappropriate — and that’s okay. That’s growth.”

SNL’s “In Memoriam” Segment: A Moment of Reckoning

Poehler’s comments were prompted in part by the recent SNL 50th anniversary celebration, which featured a much-discussed “In Memoriam” segment. Unlike a traditional tribute, the sketch paid ironic homage to the show’s most outdated and problematic characters.

Introduced by actor Tom Hanks, the segment highlighted sketches that leaned on ethnic stereotypes, gender-based humor, and offensive tropes. Hanks addressed the elephant in the room with biting self-awareness:

“Even though these characters, accents, and — let’s just call them ethnic wigs — were unquestionably in poor taste, you all laughed at them. So if anyone should be canceled, shouldn’t it be you, the audience?”

The montage included a now-infamous sketch in which actor Ben Affleck appeared to berate a mentally-disabled character, as well as multiple blurred-out performances by actors in makeup portraying characters of other races. Poehler was featured in several of these, including impersonations of Michael Jackson, Yoko Ono, and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il — the latter in a 2006 sketch that also included Fred Armisen and Bill Hader dressed as North Korean guards.

A Moment of Personal Embarrassment

During her podcast, Poehler also recalled a particularly awkward moment during a corporate sexual harassment seminar.

She admitted she and Forte had been jokingly sketching crude drawings and passing them back and forth like schoolkids — only to accidentally hand the paper to the seminar facilitator, thinking it was the sign-in sheet.

“He looked at it and was like, ‘What’s this?’ and I panicked. I was like, ‘Sir, that’s the wrong paper.’ It was mortifying,” Poehler said, laughing through the embarrassment.

Owning Up and Moving Forward

But Poehler’s reflections weren’t just about uncomfortable laughs — they were about accountability.

“On the 50th, they showed us all the ways we got it wrong,” she said, referencing the anniversary special. “There was so much inappropriate casting. We played people we shouldn’t have played. I misappropriated. I appropriated. Sometimes I didn’t know better, but sometimes I did.”

Poehler emphasized that she doesn’t want to excuse the mistakes — only acknowledge them and strive to do better. “It’s very real. The best thing you can do is make repair, learn from your mistakes, and keep going,” she said.

A Shift in Comedy — and Responsibility

Over the past decade, Saturday Night Live and the broader world of sketch comedy have faced increasing scrutiny over race, gender, and representation. Longtime cast members — including Poehler, Tina Fey, and Jimmy Fallon — have all faced criticism for past sketches that relied on stereotypes or featured white actors playing characters of color.

SNL has taken steps to respond. In recent years, the show has diversified its cast and writers’ room, and some controversial sketches have quietly disappeared from reruns and official archives.

Still, the anniversary special’s self-critical tone marked a rare and public reckoning for the show — and for the comedians who helped shape it.

“You can’t change the past, but you can choose how you grow from it,” Poehler said.

As social norms continue to shift, the challenge for comedians like Poehler is walking the tightrope between humor and harm. And for the SNL generation that came of age in the early 2000s, that means looking back with a critical eye — and hopefully, a better understanding.