NBC(NEW YORK) — Saturday Night Live has been accused of stealing a sketch from the Groundlings in Los Angeles. Groundlings teacher Ian Gary took to his Facebook page Monday to point out that the Tina Turner impersonator sketch from Saturday’s episode of the NBC variety series was almost an exact copy of a Groundlings sketch.
Gary cited SNL as one of his influences and said he isn’t out to “attack” the show. But he claimed it wasn’t the first time sketches were “flat out stolen from my friends by Saturday Night Live.”
A source close to the show denied claims of plagiarism, saying the SNL writers had no knowledge of the improv company’s sketch.
“It’s a common idea since Tina Turner is such an iconic figure. The similarities represent parallel thinking in the comedy world,” the source told the A.V. Club.
The Groundlings sketch was performed by Vanessa Ragland and Kimberly Condict over the summer, while SNL’s sketch featured host Sarah Silverman and castmembers Cecily Strong and Sasheer Zamata.
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