'Saturday Night Live' Britney Spears Parody Sparks Backlash: 'Foul'

After Britney Spears' memoir was mocked on Saturday Night Live (SNL) on Saturday, it has sparked backlash from people online.

The latest episode of the comedy skit show aired on November 10, starring Timothee Chalamet as the host and pop band Boygenius as the musical guest. As the episode aired, a sketch appeared to make light of the personal troubles Spears has faced over the years, which she wrote about in her memoir The Woman in Me, released in October.

The skit included a variety of celebrities being mocked by Chalamet and Chloe Fineman while they read out passages from Spears' memoir during an audition to voice the audiobook.

Fineman portrayed Julia Fox, Chalamet, and Natasha Lyonne, while Chalamet mimicked Martin Scorsese. Sarah Sherman appeared as comedian John Mulaney; Molly Kearney as actor Kevin James; and Ego Nwodim played Jada Pinkett Smith, reading an excerpt from Pinkett Smith's memoir.

While the audience seemed amused by the cast's impressions, fans of the pop singer have slammed the skit. Many have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to share how much they dislike it, with many labeling it as "tone deaf" and "foul."

Newsweek reached out to NBC, which airs SNL, for comment via email Monday.

A screenshot of an alleged Instagram comment from Spears' manager and friend, Cade Hudson, went viral online as it claimed to show his disapproval of the post.

According to a screenshot shared by PopCrave, he wrote: "Wow. The writers of SNL are getting worse and worse. No wonder you all reached out to me to get Britney on the show... SNL is on life support. You all are pathetic and this Chloe [Fineman] isn't funny. Did you find her on Craigslist or something?"

However, in a statement to Newsweek on Monday, Hudson revealed the screenshot isn't real. He said: "Unfortunately there's a lot of fake impersonators in the Britney world and that was a meme created by one of them.... The same account that talked about Justin Timberlake's private parts in the book and that Britney beat the Guinness Book of World record—both false but media picked it up. She loves loves Chloe and SNL."

While the screenshot isn't real, the sharing of the doctored photo resulted in many fans of the "Toxic" singer sharing how unhappy they are with her portrayal in the SNL episode. Some have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to share their disapproval of the parody, with many agreeing with Hudson's alleged comment.

"It just feels disrespectful given that the memoir is literally about her trauma," one person wrote.

"SNL made the pathetic attempt to appeal to the minority of people who still think making light of Britney Spears' trauma is fodder in order to stay relevant. In an absolutely cringe-inducing segment, Chloe Fineman and the rest of the underwhelming cast fail spectacularly. Good," wrote another.

"LMFAO [laughing my f****** a** off] did we expect anything less from Scientologist Chloe Fineman? This is f****** disgusting, anyone who proposed or wrote for this sketch should be ashamed," said a third.

A fourth user added: "More people need to call out Chloe Fineman actually, she's so mean-spirited."

However, not everyone is unhappy with the skit, with some sharing how much they enjoyed it.

One such person is actor Natasha Lyonne, who loved the impression of her, resharing a clip to her X account she wrote: "??‍♂️??⚡️@nbcsnl⚡️??? Love you #chloefineman ??."

Someone else posted to the social media platform: "#ChloeFineman as #BritneySpears is a national treasure, she's so awesome. But I actually met #SteveO, don't bring back that impression bro. #SNL."

"I like a lot of Chloe Fineman's bits, though I do feel like she should've known this one wouldn't land. It could have been really good parodying Britney with a different execution! Regardless, I would love to see Brit as a musical guest on there!" another posted.

A fourth added: "Chloe Fineman is a genius."

Update 11/14/23, 02:50 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Spears' manager.