Tina Fey praises Matt Damon's Brett Kavanaugh parody on 'SNL,' 'played him so perfectly'
Fey also pushed back on the idea that the sketch comedy series tries to control political narratives
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Saturday Night Live" alum Tina Fey praised Matt Damon's 2018 parody of Justice Brett Kavanaugh as "perfectly" done when she looked back on the series' work in politics.
Fey gave a special shout-out to the actor while appearing at History Talks, a speaker event sponsored by the History Channel in Philadelphia, when recalling iconic political parodies such as Darrell Hammond as Al Gore and Dana Carvey as George H. W. Bush. She praised the actor for helping to relieve the "frustration" people had when watching Kavanaugh's 2018 Senate hearings after he was nominated by President Donald Trump.
"He came in and just played him so perfectly, it helped alleviate a frustration that many viewers of those hearings had," Fey said Saturday. "It only works if it’s correct."
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"Saturday Night Live" alum Tina Fey discussed the series' political history during History Talks. (Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Damon portrayed Kavanaugh as loud and emotional in response to sexual and physical assault allegations made against him by Christine Blasey Ford.
"Let me tell you this," he said. "I’m going to start at an 11. I’m going to take it to about a 15 real quick. First of all I showed this speech to almost no one — not my family, not my friends... This is my speech. There are others like it, but this is mine. I wrote it myself last night while screaming into an empty bag of Doritos."
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The sketch also made several references to Kavanaugh's preference for beer and his "beautiful, creepy" diary-like calendars submitted as evidence during his hearing.
Tina Fey praised Matt Damon's parody of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images; Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to the Supreme Court for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}During the History Talks event, Fey also referenced her time portraying 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, which commentators have suggested swayed public opinion regarding the political figure. Fey maintained that the sketch comedy series did not influence politics as much as people believed and called her portrayal of Palin a "fair hit."
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Tina Fey previously portrayed former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2008. (Dana Edelson/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
"We always worked really hard to make sure they were what we call a ‘fair hit.’ It only felt like it would work if it was based in something that was true," Fey said.
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She added, "Sometimes people will ask me, ‘Does SNL try to control the narrative of politics?’ And they really do not. You really can’t because if it’s not true, it will not be funny."