NBC: 'SNL' Star Wasn't Fired for Being Fat

Buncha sexist cranks is watcha all are! Casey Wilson is funny, talented and sexy as heck! Her legs would make a great show alone! Here's hoping this beautiful, brilliant and way underappreciated woman gets the chance she deserves in future....
By the way: Anyone catch the first show without her? One of the series' all-time worst, and that's really saying something!!!

Thank god casey is gone. She never added a single thing to the show or its cast, just a lot overacting and stupid looks at the camera. Funniest thing she ever did was on Funny or Die when she read the "fan-mail" that bashed her. Looking forward to another round of that once she reads the responses to her being fired...

That said, I will REALLY miss Michaela Watkins, dunno why they got rid of her, Angie Tempura was a great character and i was looking forward to seeing her pop in throughout this next season of weekend updates. Sad that she got nixed with that no-talent ass clown Casey, she deserved better.

Joe Young, I absolutely agree with you. The people who knock the show haven't watched it in the past decade and a half. They don't know what they've missed.

I think it's well-documented that it's been harder for women to succeed on SNL. Perhaps it's a bit of a boys' club, or perhaps the format doesn't play to their strengths. Talented women like Christine Ebersole, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Janeane Garofalo and Susan Silverman have had short stints there.

That said, Lorne did give those two women a fair chance to make their marks. That's what "featured player" means: it's a tryout. Getting selected in the main cast and then dumped after one year -- that's more notable and tougher to overcome.

Dude! A link to the E! story would have been helpful, as well as nice Netiquette. What's up with that?

It's always a shame things have to come down to black/white, thin/fat, male/female...with SNL, it should be all about the FUNNY FACTOR!...Do like the reality TV shows, and let America vote on who is funnier...this way, America gets what it wants...in comedy, favorites are actually a good thing...not like with AI and the singers, and SYTYCD with the dancers...these are great shows, but this time around the favorites ARE the best!...we want FUNNY on Saturday Night, not so-so...Personally, I think that, with the popularity that has been shown to episodes with him in them, SNL should hire Justin Timberlake on a regular basis...now THIS would garner some massive changes in the ratings! He is a popular singer, and he is actually sooo sooo funny to watch on camera...he knows how to make fun of himself, and his life, and he has great timing...so SNL, if you want to improve your ratings, go with this guy...

I really liked both women on the show. I don't think Wilson was fat at all but normal. Wiig is too thin but the best on the show. Maybe Michaels will fire her next year. He always gets rid of the best actors IMO (sandler, Spade)

Saturday Night Live seems to need this right now, as they are critically in need of attention, developmentally. It is like they need the attention, before the next season begins, which shows that it needs help. I recently went through this with a friend.

I agree with other sentiments that SNL is *NOT* as funny as it used to be with the number of skits vs total laughter scenes. The Ratio is way off. I started off back in the 1980s, the Murphy/Piscipo days, getting to see some of the earlier "Not ready for Prime Time" stuff later on. I dropped the show later on, and have only watched it in spells, as it just isn't a priority in my life anymore (TV in general shouldn't be a priority in anyone's life, for that mattter (!).

I have been a fan of SNL since its inception and clearly some "not ready for prime time players" do not have what it takes. Casey Wilson was not funny on the show - it was painful to watch her. I cannot believe she stayed on as long as she did. Just watch the sketch of "The View" from last season and her impersonation of Jennifer Aniston. Yikes!

Casey Wilson was funny a lot of the time. Michaela Watkins had some characters that were funny. I don't understand why they're keeping Abby Elliott. She didn't do ANYTHING on SNL last year, except stand around. Why was she kept and Casey Wilson let go?

I just googled images on Wilson and she is either not as large as everyone is making her out to be, or the camera took away 10 lbs. Maybe she just wasn't funny, not sure because I don't think the show is funny so I rarely watch it. Maybe, just maybe people, Michales made the decision based on comedy and not weight. Not everything has to be a controversy!!

Funny is in the eye of the beholder and evidently the "HNIC" didnt have eyes for her particular style of humor!!! He also probably got tired of looking at an eyesore that wasn't funny...TO HIM!!! All that matters is that she didn't meet HIS criteria for WHATEVER reason. Everything is how it should be at this moment. We SNL lovers that remain need to just accept this and move on. As old as we all are haven't we learned by now that when a door closes another one opens so we can probably make a fair assessment that someone better will take her place. I may sound cruel but that's the way showbiz is...sooner or later. Boo,Hoo,Hoo Casey!!! Why didn't you just lose 30 lbs. dumb a**!!!!!

The Truth is right. She was not funny and she was always lookin' at the camera. It was almost awkward to just watch her skits!

It's funny, for every season there is someone who says, "Oh, I remember when this show used to be funny." Or, "it used to be edgy". With the exception of the 80-81 and the 85-86 season's, almost every season has defenders nowadays. The show has had it's ups and downs, but get over it. IMHO, the 94-95 season was the last truly awful season and even that had some gems occasionally.

Tina Fey has said on multiple occasions that the only reason she made it out of the writing room and onto the show itself was because she lost 30 pounds.

And are you kidding with the idea that because SNL has used fat men, they would use fat women? The number of chubby or fat men has far outweighed the number of plus-sized women on that show.

I have no idea why Casey was fired and it may have nothing to do with her weight. However, it would not surprise me.

In regards to people coming across as "old farts" for saying that SNL is boring, I respectfully disagree. I'm only 34 (woman) and grew up watching SNL. It used to be funny, but if you look honestly at it, the show has gone way downhill. Instead of a full show of funny skits, it has trickled down to one or two skits being somewhat funny per show. It even got to the point where I'd only watch the "news" portion, and now that Tina, Jimmy, and Amy are gone, I don't even watch that! They need to revamp this show in a big way, or just pull the plug already. SNL is painful to watch these days.

In regards to people coming across as "old farts" for saying that SNL is boring, I respectfully disagree. I'm only 34 (woman) and grew up watching SNL. It used to be funny, but if you look honestly at it, the show has gone way downhill. Instead of a full show of funny skits, it has trickled down to one or two skits being somewhat funny per show. It even got to the point where I'd only watch the "news" portion, and now that Tina, Jimmy, and Amy are gone, I don't even watch that! They need to revamp this show in a big way, or just pull the plug already. SNL is painful to watch these days.

Ryan. Question. Is SNL still on the air? I thought they cancelled it ?

And BTW , she was pregnant, with a lard baby.

Oh, I suppose Abby Elliot was a riot????? MW had more talent in her toenails than AE had in her whole body.

The difference? Abby Elliot is the daughter of that loser whats-his-face Elliot who was on SNL about 25yrs ago.

Casey Wilson was never funny, but I feel bad for her. Weight is always the main reason.

"Julia Sweeney...AS PAT" The "As Pat" part is key.

There is a chasm of difference between men who ARE fat being hired to perform, and a woman creating a FAT CHARACTER.

And something tells me you know this.

Missed? Not likely. The opportunity was there and it just didn't come together for them. It's happened all through the show's history. Some excel and catch on, the others fade. That's show biz.

She was fired for not being funny. She could hardly avoid glancing at the camera she was so bad.

> "There's absolutely no truth at all to the rumors regarding Casey Wilson," she said. "Her contract was simply not renewed."

That seems ambiguous? What specific rumor? The one about her being "fat"? The one about NBC insisting she lose 30lb?

Or was it the rumor that she was "fired"? She apparently wasn't "fired", her "contract wasn't renewed"...so was her contract not renewed because she's "fat"?

I hate when people say "I didn't think SNL was still on the air" or "Do people still watch that?" Get over yourself...you may think your too "cool" or your sense of humor is too sophisticated to appreciate/acknowledge the show's existence, but really you come across as old, pretentious, grizzly a-hole's for putting down other peoples tastes'. Nothing will ever be better for you than the good old days...luckily SNL advertisers don't give a rats ass about you old farts.

Enjoy your remaining years!

I've been watching S & L for over 25 years and the only person funnier than Casey Wilson is Kenan Thompson.

SNL...I din't know people still watch it. Everytime I try (in the last 5 years) I am embarrased and miss the old clever SNL.
oh well, I was around at the begining, and it was good.

I have been hoping for some time that she would be let go because she is the least humorous member of the case. I've barely chuckled at anything she's had to offer. I'm sure she's a sweet gal but not funny enough for the show. I doubt weight was the issue as she didn't appear to be a terribly overweight and it's not like the history of cast members shows us beauty and fitness were important. The public just wants them to be funny. It doesn't matter what shape or size the package is.

This is one of those horrible things that happen to those of us that aren't stick thin. Personally, even though I too am pretty overweight,I was also thinking watching her on SNL "is she pregnant?" "Just fat?". I know the camera adds 10 pounds...

My true assumption is that she wasn't funny enough to keep in terms of her being a writer or anything else. Remember how Tina Fey was chunky all those years as head writer (kept off camera) and as soon as she lost about 30-40 pounds, voila! Weekend Update Anchor, not to mention 30 Rock's phenomenal success.

I'm sure they'd never admit to it, but I think it was a factor. It's just disturbing that things will NEVER change in terms of people's perceptions of body image. I daily have to cry over the fact that Rubenesque will NEVER re-emerge as a positive body image for women!. Sniff...Sniff...

I am so upset they let her go! She is definitely one of the funniest women on that show, so is Michaela Watkins. I think Lorne Michaels has had one too many. As a regular viewer of SNL for over 20 years, I have watched performers come and go from the cast,and along with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, Michaela and Casey will be so missed. The wide array of characters they were able to bring to life were histerical. Good Luck Ladies! Shame on you Lorne Michaels!