What the Horatio Sanz Lawsuit Reveals About SNL, NBC and Jimmy Fallon
Here's my writeup. This is a huge story that should immediately change the way we cover everyone involved. https://t.co/3gpT3XvuZF
- Seth Simons (@sasimons) August 13, 2021
Humorism deep dives into the Horatio Sanz lawsuit- in which a woman claims she was groomed and assaulted as a teen- and what it reveals about the SNL environment.
- From 1999 to 2002, the plaintiff ran fan sites dedicated to SNL and Jimmy Fallon. SNL employees and cast members read these fan sites, with Sanz and Fallon initiated contact with the plaintiff, then 15, by emailing her from an NBC email address in January 2000. This resulted in the plaintiff and Sanz (who was 31 at the time) meeting after an SNL taping in October.
- When she was 16, she was regularly coming to SNL afterparties, where she drank alcohol in the presence of cast members like Sanz, who was physically affectionate with her in the presence of other cast members and staff. Fallon discussed her upcoming SATs with the plaintiff. Fallon also introduced her to Lorne Michaels, who asked her about her fan site devoted to Fallon.
- At another afterparty, which Fallon and Sanz let her into, she allegedly drank alcohol while talking to then-executive producer of SNL Mike Shoemaker, who currently produces Late Night with Seth Meyers. She was 17 at the time.
- The complaint stresses that Sanz was not the only cast member/SNL employee "who openly preyed upon women and young girls." At the same party where she talked with Shoemaker, she alleged she was grabbed "sexually" by an NBC employee who had kissed her the previous year. In September 2001, another cast member allegedly harassed her 17-year-old friend. She was also "warned to stay away from another SNL cast member/NBC employee because he sexually assaulted and/or sexually harassed" several of her friends.
- Sanz emailed the plaintiff two years ago to apologize for his actions- which included sexually explicit AIM messages and digitally penetrating her in front of SNL cast members.
- In addition to Michaels, Shoemaker, and Fallon, the potential cast members around to witness Sanz's conduct would have included Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Darrell Hammond, Chris Kattan, Tracy Morgan, Chris Parnell, Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Jerry Minor, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler, Dean Edwards, Seth Meyers, and Jeff Richards. At least two SNL cast members harrassed the plaintiff's friends.
Andrew Brettler, an attorney for Sanz, said in a statement that the allegations are "categorically false." SNL Studios and NBCUniversal said they do not comment on legal matters. Fallon's team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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