Jim Carrey decided to make things awkward during his interview with Matt Lauer on the red carpet for Saturday Night Live’s 40th anniversary show by bringing up—and defending—Brian Williams.
Lauer was ending his interview with Carrey and Tina Fey, when Carrey jumped in, saying: “Can I ask you a question, you guys? Where are you hiding Brian Williams? Where is he?” Lauer, visibly uncomfortable, looked at his wrist and said, “Oh, look at the time”—but Carrey continued: “I just want to say something in his defense: If the helicopter in front of me gets hit, I’m taking the story.” Lauer put an end to the interview then, saying, “Thank you, Jim.”
It wasn’t the only time NBC’s disgraced anchor came up during the red carpet special. While talking to Carson Daly, Rudy Giuliani also mentioned Williams. The ex-New York City mayor recalled responding to a question from Lorne Michaels—”Can we be funny?”—during SNL’s first post-9/11 episode. Giuliani replied by saying, “Why start now?”
“I want to make sure, Brian Williams, and all this stuff, I want to make sure you understand that was his line,” Giuliani said, referring to Michaels. “He wrote it. I read it. I was not smart enough to have that line.”
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