Chloe Fineman is standing by Saturday Night Live‘s latest sketch about Britney Spears. In a Monday (Nov. 13) Instagram post featuring the bit from the Nov. 11 episode, the comedian shared that she was “proud of everyone who made this sketch.”
The skit about auditioning celebrities to do the audiobook for Spears’ newly released tell-all memoir, The Woman in Me, featured Fineman reprising her spot-on impression of the pop princess. In the sketch, Punkie Johnson portrayed Ice Spice, Fineman as host Timothee Chalamet, Bowen Yang as Fred Schneider from the B-52s, and more.
The actress also noted in her post that she’s a big fan of the “Toxic” singer. “I love @britneyspears with all my heart,” Fineman wrote. “Listened to ‘The Woman in Me’ in one sitting … it’s THAT good.” Spears’ audiobook was narrated by Oscar-winning actress Michelle Williams.
While the pop star’s book has been a big hit (it sold an impressive 1.1 million copies in its first week, according to the Associated Press), reaction to the Saturday Night Live sketch was mixed. Some viewers on Twitter were upset that the long-running NBC comedy program was once again poking fun at Spears, who was finally able to end her restrictive 13-year conservatorship in November 2021..
“SNL made the pathetic attempt to appeal to the minority of people who still think making light of Britney Spears’ trauma is fodder in order to stay relevant,” tweeted one person. “In an absolutely cringe-inducing segment, Chloe Fineman and the rest of the underwhelming cast fail spectacularly. Good.”
“that’s a low for SNL. rule of satire: punch up, not down. yea, britney spears is a public figure, more popular than SNL, but this book is literally about her trauma,” added another. “we’ve already seen enough of her personal life through a microscope. literally leave britney alone!!!”
Other viewers thought Fineman and the sketch were hilarious.
“pls this britney spears skit is sooo funny,” one viewer opined.
Shared another: “The Britney Spears audiobook is killing me! 😹😹😹😹😹 #SNL”
See Fineman’s post and the sketch below:
