Britney Spears is once again trending. And no, it’s not because of a raunchy post on Instagram or an explosive revelation from her memoir, The Woman in Me; it’s because of the actress Chloe Fineman impersonating the Pop Princess on the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. This parody quickly went viral, not to mention controversial, and caught the attention of many, including Spears’ manager, Cade Hudson.
Britney Spears’ Manager, Cade Hudson, Reacts to SNL’s Parody of the Star
According to Britney Spears herself, The Woman in Me dropped to a great success, becoming the highest-selling celebrity memoir. It sold a million copies in the U.S. alone in its first week. Fans also shared online how they enjoyed listening to its audiobook narrated by Michelle Williams.
That said, SNL poked fun at the number of A-list stars who could have auditioned to voice the controversial memoir.
In the sketch, Fineman played the role of Spears. “I’m beyond touched that my book, The Woman in Me, hit No. 1 on the New York Times’ bestsellers list, to say the least,” the impersonator said in the parody. “My audiobook is read by the amazing Michelle Williams, but she wasn’t the only one who wanted to read it.”
Thank you to all the fans for making #TheWomanInMe a #1 @nytimes bestseller for the 2nd week in a row 🤯📖🌹 !!!! https://t.co/ifGb83HMHq @simonschuster @GalleryBooks pic.twitter.com/O2rvWra8KJ
— Britney Spears 🌹🚀 (@britneyspears) November 9, 2023
From there, the SNL stars impersonated numerous artists who had auditioned for the said role. Allison Janney (Heidi Gardner), Timothée Chalamet (Fineman), Martin Scorsese (Chalamet), Steve-O (Mikey Day), John Mulaney (Sarah Sherman), Natasha Lyonne (Fineman), Julia Fox (Fineman), Jada Pinkett Smith (Ego Nwodim), Neil deGrasse Tyson (Kenan Thompson), and Ice Spice (Punkie Johnson), among many others, delivered their own lines from the book as they tried to be the narrator.
Though it caused a lot of laughs for some viewers, Hudson didn’t find it funny at all.
“Wow. The writers of SNL are getting worse and worse,” he wrote on Instagram, as shared by Pop Crave on X (formerly Twitter).
https://twitter.com/PopCrave/status/1723836537001869608
He even revealed that the show was trying to have Spears as a guest and called Fineman not funny.
“No wonder you all reached out to me to get Britney on the show… SNL is on life support,” Hudson continued. “You all are pathetic and this Chloe (Fineman) isn’t funny. Did you find her on Craigslist or something?”
Hudson’s Instagram is set to private. So far, Spears herself has yet to react to the parody.
Fans’ Reaction to Saturday Night Live Parodying Britney Spears
Aside from Cade Hudson, a lot of fans have also reacted to SNL parodying Britney Spears and featuring an audition for her audio book.
Everything started when Chalamet hosted SNL’s Sunday episode. Sure, he was lauded for his hosting stint, but the show’s move to take a major swing at the music icon earned the wrath of many.
Once again, Fineman impersonated Spears after playing her in a cold open in 2021 and celebrating her pregnancy in 2022.
snl mocking britney spears’ trauma and the palestinian genocide in one night oh that show and everyone involved is going to hell
— 𝝑𝑒 petra ! (@peterfemmejay) November 12, 2023
The show showed the other A-list stars who allegedly wanted to voice The Woman in Me, but some noticed that the lines read by Fox’s parody weren’t from the book itself. It came from a joke posted on X that resulted in the show’s backlash.
User @Media_Tak1 said everything about the episode “was disgusting.” Aside from making fun of Spears and her memoir, Timothée was also called out for making fun of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Here are a few pitches for SNL sketches about Britney Spears:
1. Spears family members brainstorm moneymaking schemes now that they can’t steal from Britney … but refuse to work normal jobs.
— kevin wu 🌈 (@wukemon) November 12, 2023
@wukemon suggested a much better angle for the show to sketch: Spears’ family planning moneymaking schemes now that they couldn’t get money from the performer anymore.
“Britney has a sense of humor and has always been able to take a joke, but turning her story that includes trauma, heartbreak, and the mistreatment she faced for decades in the media into a sketch for SNL that includes excerpts that are not in the memoir is GROSS,” @luckySGM added.
SNL’s intention may only be to entertain fans, but it has gone too much again this time around. This isn’t the first time the show has raised controversy over its sketches, and it looks like it hasn’t learned from them at all.
FUCK YOU TIMOTHEE WILLY WONKA WANNABE. FUCK YOU SNL. AND WHILE WERE AT IT, FUCK WHOEVER DID THE SKIT ABOUT BRITNEY SPEARS TOO. YALL ARE UGLY AND DISGUSTING TO DO SKITS LIKE THIS AND MAKE A CURRENT WAR AND PEOPLE DYING INTO A “JOKE.” GO HOME AND REEVALUATE YOUR PRIVILEGED LIFE !!! https://t.co/lLLmpJG9cY
— BAKUDEKUSLIME (@haiweeeb) November 12, 2023
Everyone knows what Britney Spears has gone through, and making fun of it amid her book’s success is unnecessary. Instead, it should celebrate this big achievement she has reached, along with the freedom she fought for years.
