Not everyone can take a joke, especially when they're the punchline! Join us as we count down our picks for the celebrities who were less than flattered by parodies of themselves. From comedy sketches to animated spoofs, these stars weren't laughing when they saw their satirical portrayals. Which celebrity do you think had the most right to be upset?
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00:00You said we were just suing South Park.
00:03No, I said we were going to use South Park to make sure we never got ripped on again.
00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the celebrities that were
00:12less than flattered by parodies of themselves.
00:14And Donald Trump called her Miss Piggy.
00:17How do you know this?
00:18And Miss Housekeeping.
00:19That's pretty funny.
00:22Number 10.
00:24Kathy Lee Gifford.
00:25I'm Kathy Lee Gifford, and I am like so menopausal.
00:31Kristen Wiig was a popular SNL cast member, but not everyone seemed to value her efforts.
00:36In a satiric version of the Today Show, Wiig portrayed Gifford as a bit of a flake with
00:40a serious penchant for wine.
00:42Though general reception seemed positive, Kathy Lee herself did not enjoy the parody, as is
00:46evident in her appearance on Anderson.
00:48Hi, Kathy Lee.
00:49What do you think of the caricatures on Saturday Night Live?
00:51Oh, that was cool.
00:56I never see it.
00:57Really?
00:58Frank and I are in bed at 8.30 at night.
01:01Her reaction was lighter than that of Bobby Brown, who called the SNL parody of him and
01:05Whitney Houston hateful.
01:06The couple's relationship was volatile, with substance use disorder and infidelity rumors
01:11rampant.
01:11Ripe for parody, but without a doubt a risky joke.
01:14I mean, you've seen our baby Tina.
01:16Yes, I have.
01:17You have?
01:17Where is she?
01:18Yeah, where you been keeping her at?
01:20Number 9.
01:21Jennifer Lopez.
01:22MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch featured claymation animations of celebrities fighting each other,
01:34for those wondering who would win in a hypothetical brawl.
01:36Surprisingly, the series saw few complaints.
01:39When asked if any celebrities had ever responded negatively, series creator Eric Fogel claimed
01:43that the biggest issues were with studio fears.
01:46For example, a Captain Kirk vs. Captain Picard fight was axed due to the studio not wanting
01:50to anger a massive franchise.
01:52One celebrity Fogel recalled having an issue was Jennifer Lopez.
01:55The match featured J-Lo and Dolly Parton, bearing a bionic rear and enhanced breasts, respectively.
02:08This is not what urged Lopez, however.
02:10It was the voice actor choice.
02:11Lopez claimed it sounded nothing like her.
02:13The only thing that big old buck is good for is a soft landing.
02:18You mean like this?
02:19Hi-yah!
02:20Whoop!
02:21Number 8.
02:22Flea.
02:25In 1993, Weird Al was in his revival period, releasing his 8th studio album, Alapalooza.
02:37The album itself received mixed reviews, but one musician wasn't too pleased with one of
02:41the tracks.
02:42Bedrock Anthem was a Flintstones-themed song written to the tune of two Red Hot Chili Peppers
02:46songs.
02:47The band members weren't too impressed with the song, though bassist Flea was the most vocal,
02:51claiming he didn't think it was very good, and calling it unimaginative.
02:55The Peppers aren't always so sensitive.
03:05In 2014, a duo of comedians released a new RHCP song called Abracadabra La Fornia, fooling
03:11many into thinking it was real.
03:13The band loved it, with drummer Chad Smith even tweeting about its hilarity.
03:16Want to chill with a saber-toothed tiger?
03:19Wear a loincloth natural fiber?
03:22Be the first Rolling Stones subscriber!
03:24Number 7.
03:26Bobby Brown
03:26Bobby?
03:32It's MTV Cribs.
03:36Oh, cool.
03:38I thought I told the police, brother got warned.
03:40Bobby Brown appears a second time in this list.
03:43Apparently, he isn't into parodies.
03:45Brown didn't appreciate his SNL doppelganger, but he really didn't enjoy his Mad TV spoof.
03:50The skit is a mock MTV Cribs episode, in which the couple tours the celebrity couple's
03:54home.
03:55In this case, a cartoonishly inebriated Bobby Brown, played by comedian Aries Spears, opens
04:00the door to a complete mess of a place.
04:03Basically, a stereotypical substance use disorder den.
04:06I fell in love with this place first time when he let me move in.
04:09He proceeds to urinate in the corner, surrounded by framed gold records.
04:14The real Bobby Brown claimed they took it too far, and he took much offense.
04:17Even went as far as saying he had an urge to deck Aries Spears.
04:20Thankfully, it didn't come to that.
04:22But the world was beginning to take notice.
04:25All right, all right, all right!
04:26Boom!
04:27At a certain point, when you're using drugs, you don't know the outside people that are
04:33seeing it.
04:34Number 6, Morrissey.
04:36Can't you see this show is just a cash grab?
04:39I'm only here because I lost my fortune suing people for saying things about me that were
04:43completely true.
04:46Former The Smiths frontman Morrissey isn't really known for his calm, passive personality.
04:51The singer has gotten into more than one verbal scrape over the years, and his response to
04:55The Simpsons parody was no exception.
04:58A season 32 episode saw Lisa get obsessed with a 1980s band known as The Snuffs, and fronted
05:03by Quilloby.
05:05The latter, 1980s version, is cynical, vegan, and witty.
05:09Much like real life Morrissey.
05:10Oh, everyone is horrid, and my dear, I fear you are too.
05:16However, the present-day Quilloby is an incendiary bigot, a meat-eater, and a rather large,
05:22slobbish man.
05:23Morrissey was not silent regarding his reaction.
05:26He accused the show of taunting a lawsuit, concluding that, in a world obsessed with hate
05:30laws, there are none that protect me.
05:33Heaven knows he's definitely miserable now.
05:35And heaven knows I'm miserable now.
05:39Number 5, Kanye West.
05:41Kanye West isn't known for his gracious acceptance of criticism.
05:52In this case, it's a little difficult to tell if Ye was okay with the parody or not.
05:56We'll stick to our guns and say he didn't appreciate it.
05:58In 2009, South Park aired an episode titled Fish Sticks, in which a joke makes the rounds.
06:03The joke consists of a play on words.
06:06Fish sticks, the food, sounds exactly like fish, um, private parts.
06:10Therefore, anyone who likes fish sticks must be a gay fish.
06:15The joke is said to Kanye, who doesn't get it.
06:17Shenanigans ensue.
06:18Hey man, I'm a genius, alright?
06:20I'm the most talented musician in the world!
06:22If I was a homosexual or a fish, I would know!
06:25You're a rapper.
06:27Yes.
06:27An entrepreneur.
06:29Yes.
06:30And you like fish sticks.
06:31Yes.
06:32You're a gay fish.
06:33No, I am not no gay fish!
06:35West himself ranted online in all caps after the episode, oscillating between saying it
06:40was funny and saying his feelings were hurt and negatively referenced it in some of his
06:43songs.
06:44A decade later, he was still bringing up the parody, though he also didn't seem to understand
06:48it either.
06:49I wouldn't have never wore a pink polo.
06:51I wouldn't have never wear a skinny jean.
06:53Everywhere I go, people pay it smaller than mine.
06:57And I'm the one who, you eat fish sticks because I have skinny jeans on.
07:02Number 4, Oprah Winfrey.
07:04I know just what you mean, bro.
07:06I know just what you mean.
07:07You know me and Stedman broke up.
07:09Did you?
07:09Yep.
07:12Oprah Winfrey went through a very public battle with her weight in the late 80s and early 90s.
07:17At the height of her talk show's fame, Winfrey's weight would fluctuate and parodies ensued.
07:22One particular skit on In Living Color may have gone a little too far, however.
07:25The skit depicts Winfrey hosting her talk show, gradually eating until her body can no longer
07:30handle it.
07:30We can't say we'd react well either.
07:33Why isn't we women always at the B-stop here for you men?
07:37Who?
07:38The sketch starts out funny, with Oprah cradling an upset guest.
07:41But then, the eating begins and continues.
07:44She pulls food items from her pocket and even roasts three chickens.
07:47The sketch ends with her ballooning and floating upwards.
07:50The real Oprah said she felt the audience was laughing hysterically at her.
07:54Food is my lover!
07:56Food is my brain!
07:58We're Oreos!
07:59Number 3.
08:01Donald Trump
08:02Donald, there's still 88 minutes left.
08:06It's a 90-minute debate.
08:12My microphone is broken.
08:13SNL has parodied Donald Trump a number of times, and none were appreciated by him.
08:20In 2016, Lorne Michaels called Trump to reveal that Alec Baldwin would be portraying the latter
08:24in upcoming SNL sketches, to which Trump was tickled.
08:27However, after the first Baldwin sketch, Trump didn't seem tickled at all.
08:31He referred to Baldwin's portrayal as a hit job on him, stating that the show should be retired.
08:36Watched Saturday Night Live, hit job on me.
08:39Time to retire the boring and unfunny show.
08:42Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks, media rigging election.
08:46This isn't a surprising reaction.
08:48Trump doesn't like to be mocked.
08:50A 2017 skit featuring Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump in an ad for Perfume Complicit
08:54managed to seriously ruffle Trump's daughter's feathers.
08:57She reportedly couldn't stop bemoaning it, how offensive it was, how ridiculous it was in a senior staff meeting.
09:03A woman like her deserves a fragrance all her own, a scent made just for her, because she's beautiful, she's powerful, she's complicit.
09:17Number 2. Tom Cruise
09:19Don't you understand, Alron? It's me, Tom Cruise!
09:23Yeah, I know who you are.
09:24Well, haven't I done well, Alron? Haven't you enjoyed my acting? Which film did you like best?
09:28Tom Cruise is a superstar, and as such, has been plagued with criticism, commentary, and parody.
09:35Cruise has been subject to much debate regarding his sexuality over the years,
09:38and South Park went there, as well as took liberal jabs at his religion, Scientology.
09:43The frozen alien bodies were loaded onto Xenu's galactic cruisers,
09:46which looked like DC-8s, except with rocket engines.
09:49The cruisers then took the frozen alien bodies to our planet, Earth,
09:53and dumped them into the volcanoes of Hawaii.
09:55In an episode titled Trapped in the Closet, Cruise is depicted literally coming out of the closet,
10:01which apparently didn't please the actor so much.
10:03The episode featured Stan discovering he's the reincarnation of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard,
10:09and nonsense ensued.
10:10Though Cruise didn't publicly comment,
10:12it was reported that he used his influence to have the episode pulled from the airwaves.
10:16Barbara Streisand also disapproved of her 1998 portrayal on the series as Mecha Streisand,
10:21a giant mechanical dinosaur.
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10:44Number 1. Carol Burnett
10:48In Family Guy's season 4 episode, Peterotica, Peter visits an adult bookshop with the boys.
10:53When one remarks how clean the place is, it is pointed out that Carol Burnett works there part-time as a janitor.
10:59Cue Burnett's charwoman character cameo.
11:01It's pretty clean. Carol Burnett works part-time as a janitor.
11:04Which the real Carol Burnett was not too happy about.
11:11She sued the show, claiming that the character and an altered version of the Carol Burnett show theme song were used without permission.
11:17It wasn't directly stated, but it's possible Burnett also didn't appreciate the appearance of one of her beloved characters mopping the floor of an ill-reputed store.
11:32The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, citing Family Guy's right to paradise and pointing out Burnett's own history of parody.
11:38Which one of these do you think crossed the line? Let us know in the comments.
11:49Shockingly, I've just been slandered once again in the town of South Park.
11:53Something I know you all can relate to.
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