--- description: Both have skits involving Tina Turner impersonators singing "Proud Mary" title: Improv Group Accuses SNL of Stealing Material image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4075fac6b9e48510/6986a7441eebf7485d373150/456735974.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Members of Improv Group the Groundlings Accuse _SNL_ of Stealing Material  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 12:23 AM CUT  Sarah Silverman, Cecily Strong and Sasheer Zamata during the "Proud Mary" skit on Oct. 4, 2014. Sarah Silverman, Cecily Strong and Sasheer Zamata during the "Proud Mary" skit on Oct. 4, 2014.Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 7, 2014 12:23 AM CUT Members of the famed Los Angeles improv group the Groundlings [have accused _Saturday Night Live_ of stealing some if its members’ material](http://www.avclub.com/article/saturday-night-live-accused-stealing-sketch-ground-210132 "undefined") this past weekend. _SNL’_s most recent episode, hosted by Sarah Silverman, featured a skit called “River Sisters” in which Silverman and cast members Sasheer Zamata and Cecily Strong dress up like Tina Turner impersonators and parody Turner’s classic song “Proud Mary,” making the lyrics about their personal misfortune. Groundlings’ Kimberly Condict and Vanessa Ragland suggested that their routine “Rollin'” was ripped off, in a [some](https://twitter.com/KimberlyCondict/status/518670096970301441 "undefined") [tweets](https://twitter.com/vanessaragland/status/518833743922855936 "undefined") posted Sunday, the AV Club reports. That sketch [features](http://youtu.be/kITXNxLSAOg "undefined") the two comics dressed like Tina Turner impersonators who sing “Proud Mary” while using stage banter to confess personal aspirations and let-downs. Groundlings instructor Ian Gary [took to Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/iangary/posts/10152721779947560 "undefined") Monday morning to say that “over the years I have seen MANY, MANY sketches flat out stolen” by _SNL_. “Nobody says anything because I guess SNL is still some dream for some people or they don’t want to get involved, or a million other reasonable things that stop people from standing up for each other when things are blatantly wrong.” NBC declined to comment. \[[_AV Club_](http://www.avclub.com/article/saturday-night-live-accused-stealing-sketch-ground-210132 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3476432/snl-groundlings-tina-turner/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3476432/snl-groundlings-tina-turner/"},"headline":"Members of Improv Group the Groundlings Accuse SNL of Stealing Material","datePublished":"2014-10-07T00:23:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:37:30.764Z","description":"Both have skits involving Tina Turner impersonators singing \"Proud Mary\"","url":"https://time.com/3476432/snl-groundlings-tina-turner/","keywords":["Television","Comedy","SNL","Saturday Night Live"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4075fac6b9e48510/6986a7441eebf7485d373150/456735974.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4075fac6b9e48510/6986a7441eebf7485d373150/456735974.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 40","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 40","creditText":"Dana Edelson—NBC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3476432/snl-groundlings-tina-turner/","name":"Members of Improv Group the Groundlings Accuse SNL of Stealing Material"}}]}] ```