Uncovering the Deceptive Reality of Former SNL Comedian Tina Fey

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Who doesn’t love Tina Fey? From her iconic stint on “Saturday Night Live” and razor-sharp writing on “Mean Girls” to her multiple Golden Globe hosting stints with Amy Poehler and her best-selling memoir “Bossypants,” not to mention a string of sitcoms (“30 Rock,” “Great News,” “Girls5Eva”) packed so densely with jokes they require multiple rewatches, the University of Virginia graduate has firmly established herself as one of the funniest names in Hollywood. Of course, as with most great comedians, there also lies a darker underbelly.

Indeed, Fey has never been afraid to tell it like it is, whether that’s to her fellow celebrities at glitzy awards ceremonies or the general public in crowded restaurants. Over the years, the multiple Emmy Award winner has also been accused of double-crossing fellow writers, trivializing serious political issues, and mocking the Vietnamese. Here’s a look at 14 times the comedy legend got super shady.

Tina Fey slammed wealthy people with side hustles

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Tina Fey might have a reported net worth much higher than you may think. But while guesting on longtime pal Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” podcast in 2025, the funnywoman claimed she struggles to get excited about money. In fact, she judges anyone in a similar financial position who tries to boost their fortunes outside their main line of work.

Fey volunteered this information after Poehler jokingly advised her to launch her own hair care and glasses lines. “I have a problem with rich people having a side hustle.” the former said in response. “If you already have like $200 million, and you’re like …” she added, before saying this is now simply the way of the world.

Undeterred, Fey then poked fun at an ’80s star who she chose not to name for their niche side hustle: “I was like, ‘Why on this Earth would I trust an actress for pediatric medication?'” Of course, considering she’s currently on our screens advertising a vacation booking site, one could argue this is a clear case of “do as I say and not as I do.”

Tina Fey dared to throw shade at Taylor Swift

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Tina Fey bravely, or some would say foolishly considering the might of the Swifties, made Taylor Swift the target of her humor in 2013 when she hosted the Golden Globes. And the rather innocuous joke kickstarted a passive-aggressive feud that continued throughout the rest of the decade.

The trouble began when Fey warned Swift, then just as known for her eventful love life as her music, to stay away from Michael J. Fox’s son while presiding over the awards ceremony. “She needs some me-time to learn about herself,” the comedy actor insisted to co-host, Amy Poehler (via Variety). It’s fair to say that this advice wasn’t received well.

“There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women,” Swift told Vanity Fair soon after, adopting a Madeleine Albright quote many considered to be aimed at Fey. The latter remained unrepentant, however, telling Entertainment Tonight (via Billboard), “… It’s a shame that she didn’t take it in the crazy-aunt spirit in which it was intended.” And she continued to stoke the fires by referencing the same quote at both the following year’s Golden Globes and an episode of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Tina Fey questioned Rob Schneider’s career

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In 2014, Tina Fey was honored at the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards. And she used the opportunity to show both her sweet and spicy sides while discussing two very different “Saturday Night Live” graduates, Jan Hooks and Rob Schneider.

The self-proclaimed bossypants first paid tribute to Hooks (via Uproxx), the late comedian whom she’d cast as Jenna Maroney’s mother Verna for two episodes of her hit sitcom “30 Rock.” “She was another woman who meant so much to me,” Fey said “… Because she’s an idol of mine, from the Sweeney Sisters to the Miss Self Esteem Pageant. Just the funniest woman ever.”

Fey went on to recall her brief time working with Hooks and how here career should have gone. “It made me sad when she passed, and it made me mad at the time how available she was. Jan should have had a bigger career …” Then the killer blow came which no doubt left the star of such cinematic masterpieces as “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo,” “The Hot Chick,” and “The Animal” fuming. “Certainly as big as Rob Schneider’s f***ing career,” she declared much to the audience’s amusement.

Tina Fey was accused of betraying Mean Girls’ inspiration

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The 2004 teen comedy “Mean Girls” earned more than $130 million at the box office, spawned a hit Broadway musical (and a film version of said musical), and is firmly cemented as a 21st-century pop culture touchstone. But the writer who served as inspiration has made nothing since selling the movie rights for $400,000. And she holds Tina Fey largely responsible.

In 2023, “Queen Bees and Wannabes” author Rosalind Wiseman revealed she hasn’t earned a cent since “Mean Girls” took on a life of its own. “I think it’s fair for me to be able to get compensated in some way for the work that has changed our culture and changed the zeitgeist,” she told the New York Post. She then went on to call out Fey for what she perceived to be a blatant act of hypocrisy.

“Over the years Tina’s spoken so eloquently about women supporting other women, but it’s gotten increasingly clear to me that, in my own personal experience, that’s not going to be the experience,” said Wiseman having also revealed she’d personally chosen Fey to take on the project ahead of several other interested parties. “You don’t just talk about supporting women, you actually do it.”

Tina Fey asked to remove 30 Rock episodes due to blackface

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Tina Fey may well be regarded by some as part of the comedy world’s liberal elite. But in 2020, she felt compelled to publicly apologize for a handful of “30 Rock” episodes that depicted certain characters, including close friend Jane Krakowski’s Jenna Maroney, in blackface. In fact, she and fellow creator Robert Carlock were so mortified at their past political incorrectness they requested the material removed from streaming and online retail platforms.

The five episodes in question, which included the show’s first ever live recording, were subsequently removed much to Fey’s relief: “As we strive to do the work and do better in regards to race in America, we believe that these episodes featuring actors in race-changing make-up are best taken out of circulation,” she wrote in a statement obtained by Vulture.

Fey also acknowledged that even when taken into context — one example saw guest star Jon Hamm adopt blackface in a spoof of classic comedy “Amos ‘n’ Andy” — she had no excuse. “I understand now that ‘intent’ is not a free pass for white people to use these images. I apologize for pain they have caused. Going forward, no comedy-loving kid needs to stumble on these tropes and be stung by their ugliness.”

Tina Fey criticized culture of demanding apologies

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Tina Fey’s request for five episodes of “30 Rock” to be pulled over its depictions of blackface came as something of a surprise considering just four years earlier, the funny woman had defiantly declared she didn’t believe in apologizing for comedy.

Speaking to Net-a-porter in 2016, Fey brought up the pushback against one particular “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” episode for its apparent insensitivity toward Native Americans. “… The internet was in a whirlwind, calling it ‘racist,’ but my new goal is not to explain jokes,” the comedian stated (via The Independent). “I feel like we put so much effort into writing and crafting everything, they need to speak for themselves.”

Further riling up those who took umbrage with the episode in question, Fey added, “There’s a real culture of demanding apologies, and I’m opting out of that.” The multiple Emmy Award winner then claimed she prefers to avoid the online platforms where such criticism is posted.

Tina Fey called out George Clooney’s Lifetime Achievement Award

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Having presided over the Golden Globes together on four separate occasions, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are widely regarded as the show’s ultimate hosts. And as every celebrity who’s been skewed by the pair will attest to, they’re also the most wonderfully shady.

In 2014, George Clooney found himself on the receiving end of Fey’s sharp tongue in a quip about his apparent penchant for the younger lady. “The story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age,” she quipped (via ABC News) in a novel way of describing space drama “Gravity.”

The following year, Fey stuck the knife in once again. “Amal [Alamuddin] is a human rights lawyer who worked on the Enron case, an adviser to Kofi Annan on Syria, and was appointed to a three-person commission investigating rules of war violations in the Gaza Strip,” Fey said (via Time), referring to the actor’s wife. “So tonight her husband is getting a lifetime achievement award.”

Tina called out the Oscars’ philanthropy

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Alongside regular partner in crime Amy Poehler, Tina Fey has helped transform the Golden Globes from a mediocre awards ceremony into a must-see comedy roast. So it’s perhaps not too surprising that she finds all the po-faced seriousness of the Oscars a little hard to swallow.

Having just attended the 2020 event, Fey took to “The Howard Stern Show” to reveal (via People) she didn’t buy all the “real Hollywood bulls***” on display: “Everyone’s telling me what to do and it was like, people are yelling at me about rape and corporate greed, but really it’s climate change. I was like, ‘Guys, pick a lane. Also, you are all rich, why are you yelling at me about corporate greed, you’re all so rich!'”

The Academy Awards in question saw Lady Gaga honor victims of abuse, Chris Rock launch a Girl Scout cookie drive, and Leonardo DiCaprio give a warning about global warming. The latter, however, somehow managed to escape Fey’s wrath. “I always am psyched when someone’s articulate about those things, because let’s face it, actors are very stupid. But he’s so smart and his speech was so cogent.”

Tina Fey admitted Donald Glover was a diversity hire

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At the age of 23, an unknown Donald Glover was given his first major writing gig on “30 Rock.” In an interview with GQ, the man also known as Childish Gambino revealed the show’s creator Tina Fey made it abundantly clear he hadn’t been hired solely for his talent, but for diversity as well.

“There is no animosity between us or anything like that,” Glover said. “But [Fey] said it herself… It was a diversity thing.” The multi-talent’s claims were essentially backed up by Fey herself when she admitted NBC’s initiative of bringing writers of color on board essentially “made him free.”

The “This Is America” hitmaker also recalled feeling completely out of place during his “30 Rock” role, too. So much so that he used to regularly dream about cartwheeling atop a Big Apple skyscraper, all the while being watched by other writers.

Tina Fey was called out for mocking Vietnamese accent

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Two years after requesting five episodes of “30 Rock” to be taken down over its use of blackface, Tina Fey’s occasionally questionable attitude to race came back to haunt her once more. On this occasion, it was a resurfaced interview on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” in which she poked fun at an accent that certainly wasn’t her own.

Indeed, many social media users took umbrage with how Fey compared the speech patterns of her two-year-old daughter (who looks just like the comedienne). “She has a very specific way of talking, that I realized she kind of sounds like a prostitute in a Vietnam movie,” the comedian said much to the audience’s bemusement (via Yahoo! News). To make matters worse, she then mimicked the Vietnamese accent, too.

Fey also came under fire for a mistranslated line of Vietnamese dialog in her 2004 hit comedy “Mean Girls.” In the scene in question, two members of the North Shore High School clique known as Cool Asians have a fight in their native tongue. While they actually said, “Please, I wouldn’t dare,” they were subtitled as “B***h, please,” suggesting Fey had sacrificed authenticity for a cheap gag.

Tina Fey is rumored to be a real-life Mean Girl

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Tina Fey claims she based her hit 2004 teen comedy “Mean Girls” on Rosalind Wiseman’s “Queen Bees and Wannabes.” But according to the anonymous sources quoted in a 2024 In Touch Weekly article, the “Muppets Most Wanted” star, who once saved a man’s life in a scary kayak accident, could have simply drawn upon her own behavior.

“Her and her tight-knit team just steamroll their way in and push and push until they get their way, and the people signing the checks are supposed to be happy and proud to be in business with her,” one unnamed insider told the magazine during a year in which Fey appeared in a Super Bowl ad, worked on the “Mean Girls” musical remake, and saw her canceled sitcom “Girls5Eva” picked up by Netflix.

The same individual also claimed that Fey will often steal the best lines for herself, her reputation among the new breed of comics is rock bottom, and her apparent bolshiness has deterred comedians of the opposite sex from working with her: “Word has gotten out that Tina is territorial, dominant and only looking out for ‘number one,’ every step along the line.”

Tina Fey was accused of trivializing the Charlottesville protests

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In 2017, “Saturday Night Live” segment Weekend Update attempted to tackle the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, in its own typically irreverent way. And while hosts Tina Fey and Colin Jost started off without any controversy — the former made it crystal clear that “Nazis are bad” — they soon got into murkier waters.

Indeed, in something of a rambling monologue, Fey argued the best way to counteract white supremacy is to order a patriotic cake from a minority-owned bakery and eat it. When questioned about exactly how this was supposed to help, the funnywoman responded (via Vice), “Love is love, Colin … ‘Sheet-caking’ is a grassroots movement, Colin. Most of the women I know have been doing it once a week since the election.”

Fey concluded by encouraging viewers to treat the neo-Nazi rallies like they would a female-fronted, thought-provoking film: “Don’t show up. Let these morons scream into the empty air.” Although obviously all said in jest, the comedian’s comments were interpreted by some as a sign of white privilege. And Fey later herself acknowledged she’d got it wrong, telling David Letterman’s “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” (via People), “… The implication was that I was telling people to give up and not be active and to not fight. That was not my intention, you know, obviously.”

Tina Fey dropped the C-bomb in a London restaurant

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Turns out you don’t ever want to mess with Tina Fey while she’s trying to take a group photograph. Particularly if she’s in a crowded restaurant. Yes, during a 2015 appearance on “The Howard Stern Show,” the “Sisters” star recalled getting into an argument at a London eatery that got so heated she dropped the C-bomb.

The drama started when Fey and her group of family friends got up out of their seats to pose for a snap, only to be confronted by a fellow diner with a Justin Bieber type haircut concerned she was getting a little too intimate with her other half. “And she comes around and name-checks me, she’s like, ‘Tina, Tina Fey, I love you darling, but sit your ass down,'” she said (via News.com.au) “… And her husband is like [all the way] over there, and I go, ‘My bum is ample but it’s not going around four people.'”

Fey and her posse eventually managed to take the picture, much to the ire of said diner. “And she’s like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, we love your skits but you can’t do that … you need to know in England we don’t do that, darling,'” the comedian continued. Fey decided to get the last word in by replying, “You need to know that you’re being a f***ing c*** right now.”

Tina Fey was accused of being rude to The Roots

Questlove at 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

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During a 2012 appearance on “Watch What Happens Live,” The Roots’ leader Questlove put the cat among the pigeons when he called out two superstars of their fields. The musical maverick first shamed Prince for failing to credit his drumming skills on one particular live album. And then he turned his attention to a certain self-proclaimed bossypants.

“Tina Fey, you are never nice to the Roots!” Questlove claimed (via Vulture). “We’re from Philadelphia. You’re never nice to the Roots!” When asked to expand by host Andy Cohen, he added, “I just don’t know. Fellow Philadelphians — we bond with each other, and it’s been hard trying to bond with her.” The hip-hop icon later tweeted that his remarks had been totally misconstrued, and he was simply playing Fey at her own jokey game. “I friggin love her,” he said in a spot of unconvincing damage control.

And the plot thickened when Questlove had to share the stage with the woman he’d just dissed. “We tried to say hello to you last time and you … it was a misunderstanding,” “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” bandleader told guest Fey (via E! News). The latter tried to downplay the incident in question, admitting she had no idea what happened before suggesting they settle their differences with a Philly tradition known as the “hoagie of forgiveness.”