Cecily Strong Reportedly Backed Out of SNL’s Controversial Elise Stefanik Sketch at Last Minute: She Felt ‘Uncomfortable’

Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP; NBC

NBC’s latest episode of Saturday Night Live nearly had a very different actor playing Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in its cold open. A report by the New York Post said that former cast member Cecily Strong played the congresswoman during dress rehearsal on Saturday, but backed out before the live broadcast later that night.

Saturday’s show, hosted by Adam Driver, opened with a sketch sending up the much-lambasted Congressional testimony by college presidents concerning rising anti-Semitism on campus. Playing Stefanik was new cast member Chloe Troast, who portrayed the New York rep as reveling in the spotlight of the hearing while the university presidents — played by Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, and Chloe Fineman — floundered in their political correctness without providing any straight answers (“Mmmm, diverse water…”).

According to the report, Strong backed out at the last minute after expressing some hesitation at going through with the live broadcast. A “TV source” told the Post that Strong “was uncomfortable with the sketch.” Another “insider” said: “There were a variety of reasons, and last minute Cecily pulled out of the cold open.”

There was no comment from Strong, NBC, or SNL to either the Post or The Wrap, which posited that Strong could be pushing her return to the show off until fellow alum Kate McKinnon returns to host the show next week.