NOT THANKS

Oscar-Winner Reveals Why She Turned Down Hosting ‘SNL’

Jennifer Hudson told Eddie Murphy the reason she didn’t want to do the sketch show at the height of her fame.

Not every burgeoning star jumps at the chance to host Saturday Night Live, and EGOT-winner turned daytime host Jennifer Hudson revealed that she’s a prime example. Hudson was asked to host the show in 2006, following her star-making turn in Dreamgirls alongside Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy, she revealed on Thursday’s episode of her Jennifer Hudson Show, telling guests Murphy and Keke Palmer why she declined at the time. “They wanted me to host right after Dreamgirls,” she said, “But y’all, if you didn’t know, public speaking was my biggest fear.” Considering the SNL hosts’ traditional opening monologue, Hudson would have had to face that fear head-on and live, which she said “completely intimidated” her. “I was like, no. I turned it down,” she recalled. “But now that you mention it, now, I might feel more prepared.” Murphy said Hudson “should be the host and musical guest,” but she told the SNL alum to “slow down.” The “thought of it stresses me out,” she said, “you just made me nervous.” Palmer, who used her 2022 host episode to reveal she was pregnant with her now two-year-old son Leodis, told Hudson she would “kill it.”