GAGGED OVER GAGS
What did Norm MacDonald say about OJ Simpson on SNL and why was he fired?
Find out what Norm did after his dismissal from the show
NORM MacDonald was best known for his hilarious appearances on Saturday Night Live.
He made some controversial quips about OJ Simpson's trial for the murder of his second wife Nicole — here we take a look at what he said, why he was fired and what he did after being dismissed from the show.
1
Who was Norm MacDonald?
Norm Macdonald was born on October 17, 1959 in Quebec City, Canada.
He was a comedian and actor who joined the Saturday Night Live cast in 1993.
Norm married Connie Vaillancourt Macdonald in 1988, and the pair had one child, Dylan, who was born in 1993.
Connie and Norm divorced in 1999.
Besides television work, Norm also starred in a number of films including The People vs Larry Flynt (1996) and Dr Dolittle (1998).
Following a nine-year battle with cancer, Norm passed away on September 14, 2021.
The comedian's management firm confirmed his death to Deadline but did not specify what type of cancer he had.
Norm’s producing partner Lori Jo Hoekstra was with him when he died.
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She said at the time: “He was most proud of his comedy."
“He never wanted the diagnosis to affect the way the audience or any of his loved ones saw him. Norm was a pure comic.
“He once wrote that ‘a joke should catch someone by surprise, it should never pander.’ He certainly never pandered. Norm will be missed terribly.”
I think the whole show was tired of me not taking marching orders
Norm MacDonald
What did Norm MacDonald say about OJ Simpson and why was he fired from SNL?
Norm was Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update anchor for three seasons, starring on the sketch show between the years of 1993 and 1998.
President of NBC's West Coast division, Don Ohlmeyer, had the comedian removed from the programme, saying at the time that this was due to a "decline in ratings and a drop-off in quality."
But Norm believed he was dismissed after he made a series of jokes about OJ Simpson and the Nicole Brown Simpson trial.
The funnyman often referred to OJ — who died on April 10, 2024 following a battle with cancer — as a "murderer" in his remarks, which he believed did not go down well with Ohlmeyer, who was a friend of OJ's.
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The jokes were written primarily by Norm and longtime SNL writer Jim Downey, who was fired from SNL at the same time.
"Well, it is finally official. Murder is legal in the state of California," Norm said after OJ's acquittal, in a move that sparked the end of his time on SNL.
In later years Norm came to the conclusion that Ohlmeyer removed him because he was seen as insubordinate, saying: "I think the whole show was tired of me not taking marching orders.
"Lorne would hint at things.... I'd do Michael Jackson jokes and Lorne would say, 'Do you really want a lawsuit from Michael Jackson?' And I'd say, 'Cool! That'd be f****** cool, Michael Jackson suing me!'"
What did Norm MacDonald do after SNL?
Following being fired from SNL in 1998, Norm returned to guest host the show in October 1999, delivering a monologue addressing his firing.
"I don't know if you remember this but I used to actually be on this show.
"But now, this is the weird part, right? It's only a year and a half later and they asked me to host the show!
"So I wondered, I go, 'Hey, wait a second here. How did I go, in a year and a half, from being not funny enough to be even allowed in the building, to being so funny that I'm now hosting the show?
"How did I suddenly get so goddamn funny? It occurred to me, I haven't gotten funnier. The show has gotten really bad!"
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After his stint on Saturday Night Live, Norm had his own show, The Norm Show, which ran from 1999 until 2001.
He also continued to make various appearances on late-night television, including notable interviews with Conan O'Brien.
OJ Simpson's Trial Timeline
A look at why The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson is regarded as the murder trial of the century.
On June 12, 1994, OJ Simpson's estranged wife Nicole Brown Simpson, 35, and her friend Ronald Goldman, 25, were stabbed to death outside her Los Angeles condo.
Their bodies were found two days later.
On June 17, Simpson was charged with their murders and arrested following a livestreamed car chase.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges on July 22.
By November 3, an initial jury of twelve was selected.
They would be sequestered for 265 days throughout the proceedings.
Simpson wished for a speedy trial, and his team worked tirelessly on their defense before opening statements began on January 24.
Prosecutors painted Simpson as a savage killer who lashed out at his wife in a murderous rage because he couldn't control her.
They said a bloody glove was recovered at the crime scene, and that blood spatters were seen on Simpson's white Ford Bronco.
Meanwhile, the defense accused Mark Fuhrman, a Los Angeles Police Department detective who was working the case, of racism.
They claimed Fuhrman used racist language to describe Black people and tried to paint him as an illegitimate witness.
Three days after the opening statements, Simpson released his tell-all book I Want to Tell You where he spoke out about the deaths and accusations.
On February 3, Nicole's sister Denise Brown testified that Simpson was abusive, claiming he called Nicole a "fat pig" when she was pregnant.
On June 15, Simpson tried on bloody gloves that were found at the scene of the crime and demonstrated that they did not seem to fit in a dramatic court scene.
On October 3, the jury found Simpson not guilty of two counts of murder.
In 1997, Simpson was found liable for Nicole and Goldman's deaths in a civil suit filed by the victims' families