John Belushi A Misogynist? Jane Curtin Tells Oprah Star Sabotaged Women's Work

The early days of "Saturday Night Live" stood out in part thanks to its breakout female stars, but according to one of them, behind the scenes, the show did its best to stifle them.

Jane Curtin appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Tuesday as part of a panel on women in comedy, sitting alongside Tina Fey and Chevy Chase, among others. Known for her Coneheads sketches and Weekend Update anchoring, Curtin said that the women writers on the show were often unable to contribute their work thanks to sabotage by the show's men. Especially breakout star John Belushi.

"Their battles were constant. They were working against John, who said women are just fundamentally not funny," Curtin said. "So you'd go to a table read, and if a woman writer had written a piece for John, he would not read it in his full voice. He felt as though it was his duty to sabotage pieces written by women."

Fey said that she was indebted to Curtin, and thanks to her, things had changed at "SNL" by the time she got there.

"By the time I got there, in that read-through room... our director was a woman; one of our stage managers was a woman," she said. "The more women that were in the room to laugh at the different pieces, then [the more] people were like, 'Oh, OK, maybe we'll put it on.'"

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Comments

[DonJeff]

10:49 AM on 04/18/2011

Sure wish the women on Huffington Post would would realize it is not 1971, but 2011. Almost 2/3 of college students are female; females control a majority of wealth in this country and employment rates are higher for females for a variety of statistical groups. they are even shutting down men's college sports while athletic scholarships for women go unused. Most programs for college admissions and employment are geared towards women, while for young men without a college education-there is mostly just war or prison. Wake me up when 'you go girls' becomes 'you go kids'. What do I see? Tens of millions of middle-class/working class guys of my generation worked to create the best economy and technological jump in history; we supported our women to have 'choices' we didn't have; and we raised a generation of young people in an egalitarian fashion to feel free to pursue whatever avenues they wish-yet we have been kicked out of the economy in droves and treated with disrespect our entire adult lives. Go figure! P.S. re changing tires-don't you understand they put on lugnuts with machines these days and you need to hammer a tire iron with a mallot to loosen them by hand. That is what AAA is for!

[3dtrix]

03:55 AM on 04/17/2011

A politically correct John Belushi?

Don't make me laugh...

[Caymus77]

02:28 AM on 04/17/2011

Anybody who has seen Belushi being interviewed informally would have to agree with Curtin.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

10:41 PM on 04/16/2011

I got to see Chevy and John in National Lampoon's Lemmings live. Oh man.......what a night.
And, they bought pot from a friend about an hour before the show started. I thought I was way cool. I was with somebody that knew somebody. !

What a night.

[cmm5713]

09:38 PM on 04/16/2011

John Belushi fans know his comedy genius 3 decades after his death. I was disgusted by Jane Curtin's rant that John Belushi was a misogynist who sabotaged the women's work. Maybe it just wasn't funny! Jane Curtin has had such a stellar career playing harpy as she did on SNL, she is not funny. Chevy Chase sat agreed with her, sage that he is. His conflict with John Belushi is well documented so no surprise he backed up this cheap shot.

[ddemos]

03:21 PM on 04/16/2011

This is not news to anyone born in the 60's...common knowledge for early SNL fans....

[paul haugen]

12:55 PM on 04/16/2011

I was wondering who to blame your lack of a career after SNL on. Thanks, that changes....err...nothing actually.

[ddemos]

03:22 PM on 04/16/2011

changes nothing for men...for women...yes, it has changed...

and Ps. Jane Curtain has had more Tv success than many...look it up...

[MLISstudent]

03:45 AM on 04/20/2011

Gee, I guess Kate and Allie and Third Rock From the Sun weren't successful to you?

[paul haugen]

07:44 AM on 04/20/2011

don't watch tv

[gregory57]

11:58 AM on 04/16/2011

Jane, you ignorant grave robber. Let John rest in peace.

[El Chingaso]

08:50 AM on 04/16/2011

"Samurai Misogynist"...anyone?

[peptobismal]

11:31 PM on 04/15/2011

Eh Jane, baseball been berra berra good to you eh? lol. Loved you girl with Chico Escuela.

[toocoolfoschool1234]

07:50 PM on 04/15/2011

I think some women comedians are extremely funny but I also think that SNL is not as funny as it used to be so this doesn't make a great case.

[gregory57]

11:58 AM on 04/16/2011

Nothing is as funny as it used to be. Trust me.

[toocoolfoschool1234]

03:07 PM on 04/16/2011

Have you seen the show Trailer Park Boys?

[GaryNOVA]

09:37 PM on 04/15/2011

jan hooks was funny on snl. she's prolly my favorite female snl cast member.

[kwyang]

06:28 PM on 04/15/2011

It's not particularly nice to speak ill of the dead 30 years after they're dead and incapable of defending himself anymore.

[GaryNOVA]

09:49 PM on 04/15/2011

i think you could probably get away with rippin on hitler.

[kwyang]

10:33 PM on 04/15/2011

His own words and deeds did that for him, I don't need to do much to assist. The man's name is a byword for evil and racism now. Not much more anyone can do to tarnish that reputation.

[ddemos]

03:25 PM on 04/16/2011

who is speaking "ill" of the dead...it was common knowledge at SNL and worth showing how the genre has changed w/ the times...

and FYI John would have no defense for this...if he were alive...

[hypnus]

02:43 PM on 04/15/2011

John Belushi was a misogynist too. Deep tissue or shiatsu?

[Lahonda]

07:26 PM on 04/15/2011

Reiki ninja.

[ghee99]

02:35 PM on 04/15/2011

meh, i doubt this is true

[MLISstudent]

03:51 AM on 04/20/2011

Do a little research/homework. You're in for a bit of a surprise.

(Rats. In a previous post I said Randy Shilts book and I think it's Randy Shales). What do I know, it's 3:51am and we're having tornado alerts.