Amy Poehler is well-known for diving into comedy sketches with enthusiasm, but an incident in 2005 took an unexpected and dangerous twist when a chimpanzee attacked her.
This occurred during an episode of Saturday Night Live and remains a memorable moment for the comedian even two decades later.
During a discussion with Ariana Grande on her Good Hang podcast about on-set mishaps, Poehler recounted how the chimpanzee, featured in a sketch, grabbed her wrist backstage and wouldn’t release her.
“One time I was doing a sketch where I think Jason Bateman was the host and there was a monkey in the sketch,” she recalled, highlighting the Parks and Recreation star’s encounter.
Expressing her general unease around animals, Poehler added: “I don’t like them. It’s too stressful for me. And it was a young chimpanzee.”
“I walked past the chimpanzee and it reached out and grabbed me by the wrist and wouldn’t let go in the middle of a quick change,” she recounted.
Poehler speculated on why the chimp reacted this way, suggesting: “I think it was the blonde hair or my vibe. And I started screaming.”
She noted the strength of the animal, saying, “And chimpanzees are very strong. I couldn’t get it to let go of me.”
Ariana, taken aback by the story, asked Poehler if she was alright, later noting it seemed more like “PTSD” than just a funny incident.
The ‘Monkeys Throwing Poop at Celebrities’ sketch was a fan favorite, featuring Jason Bateman as a TV host who lures Sean Connery (Darrell Hammond) into a messy live interview with flying chimpanzee excrement.
Poehler’s brief appearance at the sketch’s end was enough to provoke the chimp’s reaction.
Jason Bateman experienced the chimp’s hostility as well, recounting during his 2020 SNL return that the animal had also targeted him.
“We’re all hugging, we’re saying goodnight, the credits are rolling, and then the monkey tried to kill me,” Bateman explained.
Recalling his interaction, he said, “Truly, I bent down to say, ‘Good job’ to the monkey. You know, bein’ nice. I’m a nice fella. But not the chimp.
“The chimp unhinges his jaw, he flashes the teeth, and he tries to bite my entire nose off.”