Bowen Yang Says 1 ‘SNL’ Host ‘Begged’ For Very Specific Jokes That Later Got Backlash

Bowen Yang wants everyone to know that Sydney Sweeney is extremely self-aware. 

Earlier this year, “Saturday Night Live” received backlash after the “Anyone But You” star hosted the long-running sketch show in March. Many criticized “SNL” for objectifying Sweeney by pandering to her sexiness — with many pointing to one sketch in which Sweeney played a Hooters server. 

But according to Yang, that’s exactly how Sweeney wanted her stint on “SNL” to go.

“She’s an example of a host who came in and understood how she was being consumed and perceived already,” Yang said 39 minutes into Wednesday’s episode of David Spade and Dana Carvey’s “Fly on the Wall” podcast. 

“She came in and was like, ‘Please, everyone, make jokes about my boobs,’” the “SNL” cast member recalled. “She was practically begging everybody.”

Yang then shared a cute anecdote about shooting the digital short “Bowen’s Straight” with Sweeney.

In the digital short, Sweeny plays herself and confesses to “SNL” cast members Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim that she has a crush on Yang.

In response, Gardner and Nwodim tell Sweeney to shoot her shot with Yang, because he’s not gay like Sweeney assumed and is “straight as they come.” (Yang is openly gay in real life.)

Because the sketch eventually leads to a sex scene between Yang and Sweeney, Yang told Spade and Carvey on their podcast Wednesday that the show hired an intimacy coordinator.

Yang recalls letting Sweeney know about the coordinator ahead of the shoot and told her that if she was “uncomfortable” at any point during the sex scene she could “tap out” or they could cut the scene altogether. 

Sweeney’s response to Yang’s concern for her comfort was straight to the point — and pretty funny.

“And she goes, ‘Bowen, I’m on ‘Euphoria,’” Yang recalled.

Sweeney built her reputation as a sexpot in her role as Cassie on “Euphoria” and has done several nude scenes on the HBO series — a part of her job that she was “timid” to do at first, she told HuffPost in 2019.

But, five years later, Sweeney seems much more confident engaging in more risque scenes — and even told GQ in March that she wanted to play up her bombshell rep while on “SNL.”

“There’s so many people out there who are like, ‘Oh, she’s famous because she showed her boobs,’” she told the magazine. 

“You just learn the system,” she continued, discussing people’s assumptions about her. “You can try and fight it, but they just fight back. Even if you stand up for yourself, people are going to attack you for standing up for yourself.”