- - Reese Witherspoon Explains Why 'It Was Just Too Much Responsibility' for Her to Host “SNL” Right After 9/11

Yamillah HurtadoNovember 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM

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Reese Witherspoon during her SNL monologue on Sept. 29, 2001 -

Reese Witherspoon hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live after the 9/11 attacks

“I would give that 0 stars, do not recommend,” Witherspoon said on the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast Monday, Nov. 3

Witherspoon did not return to host SNL until 14 years later

Reese Witherspoon hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live after 9/11, and now she's reflecting on that heavy experience.

The award-winning actress, 49, spoke about her first time hosting the comedy sketch show amid a national tragedy on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, saying, “I completely left my body.”

“I would give that 0 stars, do not recommend,” Witherspoon told Shepard of her time hosting the show.

Witherspoon hosted the first episode of Season 27, which aired Sept. 29, 2001, marking the show’s first episode following the September 11, 2001, tragedy. Initially, Witherspoon’s episode was supposed to be the season’s second episode, but the attack cancelled the show’s planned Sept. 22 premiere.

“Lorne Michaels called me and he said, ‘I really need you to show up. I really, really need this. Rudy Giuliani’s gonna be here. All the firefighters are gonna be here. Paul Simon is gonna sing. I just need you to come out and do something a little light and tell America that, you know, you can’t feel sad, we gotta laugh again. We’ve got to get back the national spirit,' ” Witherspoon recalled.

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Reese Witherspoon on SNL, alongside Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer

At the time, Witherspoon’s career was on a roll following her iconic role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde and starring in Cruel Intentions, Election and American Psycho.

“I was 24. I also had a baby. I had a 1-year-old. I was a new mom. I had the biggest movie come out that summer,” Witherspoon added of Legally Blonde, which was released in theaters on July 13, 2001. “But if you know me, if I tell you I’m going to do something, I mean there has to be a real disaster for me not to.”

“Lorne said, ‘If you don’t want to do it, it’s OK.’ And I said, ‘Quit? Me?’ ”

“We did it and it was good,” she said.

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Witherspoon said the experience turned her off from hosting SNL, and she didn’t return until nearly 14 years later, when she hosted an episode in May 2015.

“It’s not the show’s fault. It was just too much responsibility for a 24-year-old girl,” she said.

That Sept. 29 episode was also the first episode for SNL legends Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers. The Season 27 cast included SNL stars Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon and Tracy Morgan.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”