Leslie Jones names the ‘SNL’ host who was ‘so bad’ the whole cast thought it would be the ‘worst show ever’
Leslie Jones is sharing which Saturday Night Live host had the whole cast worried after a disastrous rehearsal.
The comedian, who was part of the sketch series from 2014 to 2019, said everyone was convinced Woody Harrelson was going to have a rough night, but he completely surprised them.
Five-Timers Club
“When Woody came… at the time, I think he was smoking [drugs], and he was not good in rehearsal,” Jones said on a recent episode of First We Feast’s “Slice Joint.”
“He was [expletive] up so bad and we were like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be one of the worst shows ever.’”
Harrelson is already part of SNL’s Five-Timers Club, having hosted the show five times in 1989, 1992, 2014, 2019 and 2023.
Jones didn’t say which episode she was referring to, but since she left the show before his 2019 return, she was likely talking about his 2014 appearance.
Flipped the switch
Once the cameras started rolling, Jones said Harrelson flipped a switch and proved everyone wrong with his performance.
“That man became a whole different person,” she said. “We were quick-changing, we’re like, ‘Woody, you’re [expletive] killing it!’”
Jones recalled that Harrelson later picked up on the change in attitude and asked the cast about it between sketches. “He was like, ‘Did you guys think I was gonna do bad or something?’” she said.
“And we were like, ‘Yes, [expletive], you were [expletive] up! Yes!’”
Giving props
Harrelson isn’t the only SNL host Jones has talked about.
Back in November 2025, she looked back on Margot Robbie‘s 2016 hosting stint and gave her props for stepping outside her comfort zone.
“First of all Margot, I will always [expletive] love you just because of how you came into SNL,” Jones said on Vulture’s “Good One” podcast.
“She came in there like a frickin’ rock star. All the crazy things they wanted the pretty girls to do [that] they wouldn’t do, she did every one of them.”
‘I love her’
Jones went on to talk about one sketch in particular. “There was this one sketch where she turned ugly or something — it’s so funny. No one wanted to do that. When she did, I was like, I love her,” she said.
The skit she had in mind was season 42’s “The Librarian,” which starred Bobby Moynihan as a student with a crush on Robbie’s librarian character.
When his true feelings come out, Robbie starts a slow-motion dance that takes a wild turn when she pulls out her hair and teeth to reveal fangs.
Jones said the whole cast was excited Robbie agreed to do it. “It was so good. We were like, ‘Oh my god, I love her.’”