Saturday Night Live has never shied away from controversial topics, especially when it comes to political scandals. So, of course, when the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal broke in 1998, SNL wasted no time casting Molly Shannon as Monica Lewinsky as one of their many recurring political impressions. What some people might not remember is Lewinsky stepping in to cameo as herself in a couple sketches, including Tim Meadows' “The Ladies Man.” It turns out this was the one sketch Meadows didn’t want to do, and there’s one reason why he ended up going along with it.
Shortly after Lewinsky sat down for her 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters, where the former White House intern detailed her side of the situation, she started booking media spots. That included a cameo on SNL in the fall of 1999. Meadows, who was the longest running cast member at the time, recently told Matt Wilstein on The Last Laugh that despite participating in the sketches, he was originally against Lewinsky’s guest appearance:
