Norm Macdonald was effectively pushed out of Saturday Night Live mainly because NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer decided he was “not funny” and wanted him off Weekend Update , with Norm’s relentless O.J. Simpson jokes and edgy tone widely believed to be the real friction point. Norm himself later joked that he was fired simply for “not being funny,” but interviews, retrospectives, and fan discussions consistently tie his removal to clashes with network brass over his style and targets, especially O.J. Simpson, who was a personal friend of Ohlmeyer.

Why Was Norm Macdonald Fired From SNL?

Norm’s exit from SNL in late 1997 came after several seasons as the anchor of Weekend Update , where he was beloved by many fans but polarizing to some executives. The official line inside NBC was that he just was not connecting and was “not funny,” yet the timing and content of his jokes suggest a deeper conflict.

  • NBC West Coast president Don Ohlmeyer pushed for Norm’s removal from Weekend Update and later from the show.
  • Norm’s dry, abrasive delivery and willingness to attack sacred cows, especially O.J. Simpson, made him a constant lightning rod.

The O.J. Simpson Factor

Many fans and writers point to Norm’s endless O.J. jokes as the key trigger behind the scenes.

  • Ohlmeyer was a friend of O.J. Simpson, while Norm kept hammering Simpson as a likely killer even after the acquittal.
  • The running theory in comedy circles is that Ohlmeyer grew tired of the O.J. material and used “not funny” as the official justification to push Norm out.

Norm leaned into this narrative in his comedy, often implying that if the jokes upset powerful people, that was their problem, not his.

Official Story vs. What Fans Believe

Publicly, NBC and Ohlmeyer framed the move as a creative decision about ratings and funniness. But later retrospectives and mini‑documentaries add more layers.

  • Some analyses argue Norm’s departure was also tied to his loyalty to writer Jim Downey, a key architect of Weekend Update who was pushed out for being “too mean.”
  • In at least one recent breakdown, the creator claims Norm essentially chose to leave in solidarity with Downey, but kept telling talk shows he was fired “for not being funny” instead of airing the full internal drama.

So there are two overlapping stories: the official “not funny” rationale and the informal O.J./network‑politics explanation that most fans and comedy historians find more convincing.

How Norm Himself Talked About It

Norm never treated his firing as a tragic career moment; he turned it into a running joke.

  • On shows like Letterman and Howard Stern, he would deadpan that he was fired because an executive told him he just was not funny, then spin it into a bit.
  • When he later hosted SNL , he mocked the situation in his monologue, pointing out that if he was “not funny” when they fired him, and now he was back as host, maybe it was the show that had gotten worse.

This attitude helped cement his reputation as a comic’s comic who cared more about the integrity of the joke than staying on the network’s good side.

Forum & “Latest News” Angle

In forum threads and comment sections, the consensus has barely changed over the years: people still say he was fired for going too hard at O.J. and for not playing nice with network tastes. Recent YouTube “comedy history” videos frame his exit as a mix of:

  • Network politics and O.J. sensitivities
  • Norm’s stubborn commitment to his own style
  • Possible solidarity with writer Jim Downey when management wanted to clean house on “mean” jokes

Norm’s firing has since become part of his legend, often cited as proof that he refused to soften his comedy even when it cost him one of the biggest jobs in TV.

Bottom note: Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.