Lorne Michaels told Taylor Swift he doesn’t “negotiate with terrorists” after she tried to have a spoof of her cut from ‘SNL’

Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels has said he once rejected Taylor Swift’s efforts to have a sketch about her removed from the show.

• READ MORE: ‘Saturday Night’ review: chaotic, inspiring but where are the laughs?

The show ran a spoof of Swift in 2015, which poked fun at her famous girl squad during her ‘1989‘-era. According to a new story in New York Magazine, Michaels called the singer beforehand to ask if she would like to appear in the sketch.

Swift reportedly declined and then asked if he would cut the bit from the show entirely, to which he responded: “Taylor, I do not negotiate with terrorists,” before throwing a piece of popcorn in the air and catching it in his mouth.

The sketch in question went ahead, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler parodying Swift’s ‘Bad Blood’ music video, alongside Amy Schumer who appeared as a surprise guest. The following week, Swift reportedly sent Michaels a bouquet of flowers alongside the note, “I hope there’s no bad blood.”

And, it appears there was no bad blood after all, as Swift went on to appear on SNL as a musical guest on three occasions in 2017, 2019, and 2021.

Check out the sketch below.

The story comes amid SNL‘s 50th anniversary celebrations. The show launched its 50th season in late September and hosted SNL 50: The Homecoming concert last night (February 14) with performances from Nirvana featuring Post Malone, Robyn and David Byrne, Miley Cyrus and more.

Celebrations will continue on Sunday (February 16) with the SNL 50 Anniversary Special, for which Paul McCartney, Sabrina Carpenter, Paul Simon have already been announced as guests.

Honouring the milestone, there’s also a new film Saturday Night, and a Questlove-helmed documentary focusing on the programming’s music and more.

In a three-star review of Saturday Night, Jordan Bassett wrote for NME: “The film lacks narrative drive and genuine comedy, then. As it barrels towards its inevitable conclusion, though, a funny thing happens. Out of the chaos emerges a rather inspiring ode to making it up as you go along, living in the moment, saying ‘yes’ and hoping for the best.

“You may wind up with a “half-assed rat-fuck donkey show”, as Dafoe fabulously seethes at one point, or you may create history. It’s this that – just about – makes Saturday Night worth watching. As any improv comedian could tell you: stick with it and you’ll stumble upon gold.”

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