Ego Nwodim confesses that she was "genuinely taken aback" when the Saturday Night Live audience let loose with curses during her Miss Eggy "Weekend Update" segment during the April 5 live broadcast. In a recent interview with Collider, the actress and comedian recounted the astonishing moment from season 50 when some audience members shouted "shit" in response to Nwodim/Ms. Eggy's question, "Cory Booker out here with his filibuster — shoot, I've had my fill of busters. ’Cause these men ain't what?" While the curses were clearly audible during the live telecast, they were edited out for subsequent airings.
"We never saw that coming," Nwodim said. "We ran it during dress rehearsal, and it didn't happen. Had it occurred then, it would have been cut. But when it actually aired, I was completely flabbergasted. I was in total shock. You could see it on my face when they cursed; I was stunned because they're not supposed to say anything. Ms. Eggy is sort of an old-school comedian who's a bit problematic and out of touch, thinking she's a big deal and killing it with middling jokes, if you ask me. We pitched those jokes, and I didn't anticipate that reaction at all. When they said 'shit,' I was like, 'Oh, my gosh,' right on air."
She added that immediately afterward, her first thought was that creator Lorne Michaels "would be furious with them." While Nwodim admitted that the incident "threw me for a loop," she was also surprised that "it never crossed our minds" that the audience might behave in such a manner.
"I was genuinely astounded," she continued. "And it was actually pretty cool. Honestly, it amused me that they did that. Then I got to do something I love so much: improvising in character. That was an incredible experience, so rewarding, so much fun, and potentially costly."
Nwodim noted that she wasn't sure if SNL had been fined by the FCC, as the agency prohibits "television broadcasts of indecent material between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m." She added, "I don't think so. But regardless, it was a fun moment. It was like a little dance with the audience. We were dancing, we were grooving together."
