Andy Samberg has issued a belated apology to one of the Backstreet Boys over an awkward bathroom encounter last month’s rehearsal for SNL50: The Homecoming Concert.
Both the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star, 46, and the Nineties boy band were invited to perform as part of Saturday Night Live’s 50th-anniversary concert special, which celebrated the legendary artists that have graced the sketch show’s stage over the years.
“I was being ushered around for rehearsal by a woman who was working for the show,” Samberg recalled on a recent episode of The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast that he co-hosts with Meyers and his Lonely Island comedy partners Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.
“I was like, ‘I really have to go to the bathroom’ — number one, everybody relax — and she was like, ‘You need to be on stage now! You need to be on stage now!’ And I was like, ‘Okay!’” he shared.
The Hot Rod star was quickly escorted to the bathroom, where he ran into a member of the five-piece vocal group before they were supposed to take the stage for a performance of their hit song “I Want It That Way.”
“Obviously it’s a hit for them, but it was a big thing on Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” Samberg explained, referring to one of the sitcom’s cold opens “where we have the perps in a lineup singing that song.”
“One of the Backstreet Boys was about to go into the bathroom, and she was like, ‘He needs to go! We need him on stage!’” he continued. “And he was super nice, and he said hello, and he was like, ‘Oh, we’re doing your song!’ ‘cause he knew the thing about Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s so awesome.’”
As it turns out, Samberg’s bathroom emergency ended up being for nothing.
“I went to the bathroom, quickly left, went out on stage, and then stood there for 45 minutes,” he said. “And Backstreet Boys went on and rehearsed before us. And I was like, ‘Aw, man, he must think I’m a piece of s***.’ So anyways, I apologize for that.”
The comedian later identified Kevin Richardson as the Backstreet Boy he cut in front of.
SNL50: The Homecoming Concert, which premiered February 14, saw Samberg take the stage alongside Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, T-Pain, and Eddie Vedder to perform a medley of his Lonely Island songs, including “Dick In a Box” and “I Just Had Sex.”
The live special also featured a slew of musical icons, such as Dave Grohl, Chris Martin, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and Miley Cyrus.
