Melanie Hutsell Apologizes to Mayim Bialik Over ‘SNL’ Prosthetic Nose

Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Melanie Hassell has been feeling terrible about one of the skits she starred in for nearly 30 years, but now she has a chance to make things right.

In a January 15, 1994 sketch, Hassell mocked Mayim Bialik’s performance as Blossom. At the time, “Blossom” was the highest-rated sitcom on NBC, the same network as “SNL.”

Hassell has forever regretted the giant prosthetic nose he fitted her with on the show. Because it mocked her real-life teens and struck her as anti-Semitic.in a statement to entertainment weeklyHassell, 55, said: “When I was preparing to do that sketch all those years ago, I was really struck by the fact that they were going to have me get a prosthetic nose to play Mayim Bialik’s character, Blossom. “I felt scared. I knew it was wrong.”

“I distinctly remember that when I expressed my desire not to get a prosthetic nose for a sketch, I was told that if I refused, I would be fired,” Hassell recalled in a statement. “And keep in mind, many of the people involved in creating this sketch were Jewish. I didn’t have the strength to refuse to do a sketch when asked.”I would be fired.” ”

“If I could go back in time and change history, I would have refused to have a prosthetic nose and risked losing my job. That would have been the right thing to do.”

‘SNL’ hasn’t commented on the sketch, but it’s live on air Show’s YouTube site.

In an October 18 essay for Variety magazine, Bialik, 47, said: reflected About how she felt when the sketch aired.

“The actress who played me was dancing and mugging for the camera and was so hilarious. But she had a prosthetic nose that really conveyed who she was as ‘Blossom.’ “I had a big fake nose put on for me,” she recalled. “I don’t know, and I don’t care to remember, whether it was significantly larger than my actual nose. I remember thinking it was weird, and I was confused. No one else on the show knew I “Everyone is caricatured in MAD Magazine, but in this parody rendition I was the only one featured. More specifically, it was my nose.” was.”

Hassell told EW that he apologized to Bialik during an audition several years ago. “This whole situation bothered me for years, but thankfully, at an audition about 10 years after the fact, I had the opportunity to look Mime in the eye and apologize for my actions. To which she responded, ‘ I’ll release you!’ I took that to mean that she accepted my apology. It meant more to me than she ever knew. Given that I am married to a man and have two Jewish children, the thought that I caused pain to a fellow actor, who was a teenager at the time, is something I am not proud of, but I feel that I am I had to forgive.”