Comedian Julia Louis-Dreyfus claimed the workplace environment on “Saturday Night Live” was “very sexist.”
Louis-Dreyfus made the claim during a sit-down with late-night host Stephen Colbert for a Q&A at the “Evening with Stephen Colbert” event, according to a report published Monday by People magazine.
“There were plenty of people on the show who were incredibly funny,” Louis-Dreyfus said. The “Veep” star joined the staff of “Saturday Night Live” in 1982 at 21 years old. She was reportedly the youngest female cast on the show at the time.
“I was unbelievably naive and I didn’t really understand how the dynamics of the place worked. It was very sexist, very sexist,” she added. (RELATED: Adam Sandler Opens Up About Being Fired From ‘Saturday Night Live’)
Other cast members included Billy Crystal, Martin Short, Eddie Murphy and Christopher Guest.
Louis-Dreyfus also noted drug use was rampant on the “SNL” set.
“People were doing crazy drugs at the time [on ‘SNL’],” she said. “I was oblivious. I just thought, ‘Oh wow, he’s got a lot of energy.'”
“I don’t know how anybody could work stoned … It was a pretty brutal time, but it was a very informative time for me,” Louis-Dreyfus added.
Louis-Dreyfus said her experience there taught her an important lesson.
“I learned I wasn’t going to do anymore of this show business crap unless it was fun,” she said. “I don’t have to walk and crawl through this kind of nasty glass if it’s not ultimately going to be fulfilling, and so that’s how I sort of moved forward from that moment. I sort of applied the fun-meter to every job since, and that has been very helpful.”
Louis-Dreyfus has since earned a number of awards for her acting work.