After keeping away from Howard Stern for nearly a decade, Tina Fey returned to the show in December of last year to promote her hit comedy Sisters — an appearance that included the memorable anecdote that Colin Quinn once called her the “c-word” during their run on SNL together. Today she returned to the show for the second time in less than three months — this time to promote her upcoming Afghanistan war comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot — and again provided a solid handful of notable soundbites. Here are a few highlights from her appearance.
1. She had to change up her Sarah Palin impression when she reprised it on SNL earlier this year.
“I felt like I had to start over and learn it like a new impression because she's different,” said Fey. “She's a little jacked up [now].”
To illustrate, Fey referenced Palin's bedazzled endorsement of Donald Trump back in January that was later spoofed on SNL.
“She was just like really kind of manic in that thing with him,” she said. “Also, I suspect maybe eight years ago the McCain speechwriters were writing for her, and now she's writing for herself. It's a different deal.”
2. She was a little put off by this year's politicized Oscar ceremony.
“I will say, being at the Oscars…I'm so glad I live here, because like halfway through I was like, 'this is some real Hollywood bullshit.' Everyone's telling me what to do, and people yelling at me about rape and corporate greed, but really it's climate change. I was like, guys, pick a lane!…You're all rich, why are you yelling at me about corporate greed?”
3. She finds Lady Gaga just a tad ridiculous.
While providing Howard with a behind-the-curtain look at this year's Vanity Fair Oscar party, Fey took gentle aim at the singer for sending a confusing message after posing in the “photo booth” at this year's soiree.
“You go in a room and I think it was like [famous photographer] Mark Seliger takes your picture. And there was a gorgeous picture online the next day of Lady Gaga in the photo booth, and she's like swirling her pants-cape or whatever it was. And the quote was like, 'I just felt after my performance [of the Oscar-nominated song 'Til it Happens to You'] at the Oscars, I felt like a weight had been lifted, I felt like I could stop hiding.' And I wanted to be like, 'Ooh girl, have you been hiding? Because you've been doing a terrible job hiding. Because I've been seeing you everywhere.'”
4. She tried hard to “have a moment” with Caitlyn Jenner at the Vanity Fair party.
“I was trying to make eye contact. I was like, 'Caitlyn Jenner!'…she was not having me. I mean, not on purpose, but she…had just come in, and you could tell she was like 'I'm the biggest deal in here, and who wants to know it.' And she looked fantastic.”
5. She found out about her “nip slip” at the 2013 Emmys from her mother.
“I had a nip slip at the Emmys a couple years ago, but really, really minor. I found out about it because my mom called me the next day and was like, 'I saw your nip slip!' And I was like, 'what?'”
6. She recently turned down a play because she would have to appear nude.
“Somebody asked me to do a play recently, and it was a really good play with a really good actor, I was like, 'oh, that could be cool!' And then I opened it and it was like a play where you have to be naked. And I go, 'no man, I'm out!'”