SNL star Leslie Jones details encounter with director at SNL 50 party

Leslie Jones was left fuming when an “a–hole” director she clashed with on the “SNL” set wanted to take a picture with her during the popular sketch show’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Jones, who starred on the NBC staple from 2014 to 2019, was a host for the “SNL 50 special” red carpet in February 2024 when he ran into the director.

“First of all, I don’t like him,” Jones said on Vulture’s “Good One Podcast” that was released Thursday.

Jones recalled her interaction with the director, loathing the meeting.

“He comes over to me, and you know I don’t like him. ‘Oh Leslie, that’s just what happened. Shut up, yous was a f–king a–hole.”

The “Ghostbusters” star said the director wanted a photo with her and that Paul Rudd stepped in to take the picture, instigating Jones’ hatred towards the man.

“Paul Rudd sees that I don’t like him. So Paul is like ‘oh, I’m enjoying this,’” Jones revealed.

“The guy goes, ‘I want to take a picture with you.’ I’m not taking a f–king picture with you. You’re a piece of s–t. I’m not gonna take a picture with you,” she said.

Rudd got the former cast member to take the photo before Jones erupted over the tense encounter.

“I wanted to kill him and I just get your f–king hand off me,” she recalled.

Jones had revealed her hatred of the man she previously described as a narcissistic d–khead piqued after he wouldn’t let her leave following a long day on set.

She was shooting a pre-taped segment for a November 2017 SNL episode with fellow cast member Kyle Mooney when she needed to go home following the long night of filming.

“The guy who would direct those was a f–king a–hole,” Jones said on the “Toure Show” podcast in February. “And I don’t give a f–k if you see this. You still are, probably, a f–king d–head. A f–king narcissistic d–khead.

“He [was] just one of the white boys who thought he’s doing Shakespeare,” Jones added. “No this is a f–king sketch and you’re not funny and you’re not creating nothing beautiful. You’re just being an a–hole with this tedious f–king s–t.”

Jones also weighed in on the mental and physical difficulties that cast members have working at 30 Rock.

“There’s gonna be good times. There going to be bad times. There’s going to be stressful times. It’s any job,” she said. “Now, is SNL a big stress? Yes, it’s mentally and physically hard. But that’s why you got to be good when that’s why you got to be ready when you go in there because it is a foundation. It is a machine.

“It’s an institution. The thing I had to realize is like ‘oh, I’m not gonna be able to change SNL,” she said, revealing the reason she departed the cast after Season 44.

“I gotta go coz SNL is what SNL is. It’s you have your mental moments and stuff, I realized that Lauren is like a puppetsupposed to be that. Like, this is what I tell people all the time. When I left and got, you know, cured and you have your mental moments,” Jones said.

The comedian gave credit to Lorne Michaels, who is a “puppet master,” and his ability to get viewers all over the country to laugh at the same time.