Waffle House Fight Breaks out in Background of 'SNL' Sketch

Saturday Night Live took aim at Waffle House fights in a hilarious pre-taped sketch that aired during the March 11 episode. In "Waffle House," guest host Jenna Ortega and cast member Marcello Hernandez played a pair of high schoolers breaking up outside one of the restaurants, completely oblivious to the increasingly out-of-control events going on inside. The ending was perfect, tying the seemingly disconnected events together.

While the couple had the most serious conversation of their lives, the inside of the Waffle House grew rowdy. At one point, the police were even called to Tazer a shirtless man, played by Mickey Day. There was also a dog sitting on the counter, which caused a dispute between an employee and a woman just coming out of the bathroom. Kenan Thompson made an appearance as an old man waving around a torch for some unclear reason. Meanwhile, the couple was blissfully unaware until the shirtless man crashed through the window and was revealed to be Ortega's father!

The sketch was a parody of the viral video showing a Waffle House employee dodging a chair thrown at her by a rowdy customer. The video was filmed at a Texas location in 2021, but it did not surface until late December 2022. The employee, identified as Halie B, later posted a 20-minute video on YouTube sharing her side of the story, notes Fox News.

In her video, Halie said the incident began after six people walked in on a busy night and decided to sit in a part of the restaurant that was closed off. After they were told this, the people continued sitting there and insisted to be served. The customers began yelling and refused to leave after Halie asked them to. They refused and demanded that she cook their order. One of the customers began throwing things at her. Halie admitted to throwing a sugar shaker at the customer, who then threw a chair at her.

"That's how [the] night shift works, and it's sad," Halie said. "It's not safe at night, so we have to do what we can."

The next day, Halie's boss showed her the security footage and wrote her up for throwing the sugar shaker, she said. Two months later, she tried to get a job at a different Waffle House location but was told she was blacklisted. "I can't ever work for Waffle House again. I tried working for another sometime earlier this year, and they found out I was blacklisted," Halie said.

Halie has embraced her viral fame as "Waffle House Wendy." She started a Twitter account with that name and is selling a shirt with the text "Waffle Warrior." She also has a GoFundMe page, which has raised over $17,175 to help her.

Waffle House employees have gained notoriety for not putting up with anything during their shifts. The Daily Show already parodied Waffle House fights in October 2022, when Roy Wood Jr. took Trevor Noah to a location in Atlanta. Wood insisted the two wait to see if any fights spill outside before they go in for a waffle. "Nobody comes to Waffle House for just the waffles," Wood told Noah. "Violence is part of the experience!"