Seth Meyers Addresses Speculation That He's Taking Over 'SNL' From Lorne Michaels
It's been long speculated that Seth Meyers would take over SNL from Lorne Michaels when the show's creator eventually retires. Now, in a new interview with fellow former Saturday Night Live cast member Leslie Jones, Meyers has addressed the rumors. During the conversation, Meyers — who worked at SNL from 2001 to 2014 — told Jones and her The Fckry podcast co-host Lenny Marcus that he currently has no plans to take over as the show's executive producer if Michaels retires.
Offering her thoughts on the matter, Jones said, "I think it's gonna be Tina Fey, honestly," referring to Meyers' old Weekend Update co-host and SNL's first-ever female head writer. This prompted Meyers to make a bold assessment, saying, "Nobody can take over for Lorne. If you don't think with the money Lorne Michaels has made, he's not getting some special blood transfusion done one day. If you don't think ..."
Jones jumped in, quipping, "because Lorne literally pushes for that, for that budget too. 'Cause it takes a lot of money to run. And I think they [NBC] give it to him because it's Lorne." Meyers then joked, "I already asked Lorne. I asked him, 'Will you speak at my funeral?'" Jones added, "'Cause I'm like, 'You are a vampire, OK?!"
Earlier this month, SNL premieres its 48th season. The show first launched back in 1975. In a 2021 conversation with CBS Mornings' Gayle King, 77-year-old Michaels implied that he does have a plan in mind for his future with SNL. "I think I'm committed to doing the show until its 50th anniversary, which is in three years," he said at the time. "I'd like to see that through and I have a feeling that would be a really good time to leave."
Notably, back in March, Meyers was posed with a similar question and explained that he feels his SNL days are behind him. "I'm too old. I feel like when I went back there to host [in 2018], I felt like an athlete who lost, like, 10 miles off his fastball," the Late Night host told ET. "It's so hard. I'm so impressed with everybody who's still doing it. It was the best, but it was a young man's game."