Dana Carvey apologizes to Sharon Stone for raunchy '90s 'SNL' skit: 'From another era'

Left, Dana Carvey. Right, Sharon Stone.
Dana Carvey recalled co-starring with Sharon Stone in a decades-old "Saturday Night Live" sketch that hasn't aged well. (Associated Press)

Comedian Dana Carvey conceded that not every skit from his "Saturday Night Live" days has aged gracefully — including his "Airport Security Check" sketch starring Sharon Stone.

The six-minute gag aired in April 1992 and starred Carvey as an "Indian man" manning an airport security checkpoint. Carvey wore makeup to darken his face and spoke with an accent as the character, who — along with staffers played by his former "SNL" co-stars — urges Stone to strip down to ensure she isn't concealing any weapons. By the end of the bit, Stone's character is down to her skirt, heels and a bra as several men gawk at her figure.

Read more:Billy Baldwin fires back at co-star Sharon Stone after her 'Sliver' sex claim

"I want to apologize publicly for the security check sketch.... It’s so 1992, you know, it’s from another era," he told Stone in the Wednesday episode of his "Fly on the Wall" podcast.

David Spade, Carvey's podcast co-host, added that the skit was "so offensive."

Stone said she didn't have any issues with the sketch, looking back on it more than 30 years after it aired, because she "know[s] the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony."

"I think that we were all committing misdemeanors because we didn't think there was something wrong then," she said. "We didn't have this sense."

The actor, who hosted "SNL" after starring in "Basic Instinct," said she wasn't offended by Carvey's skit at the time and "was fine being the butt of the joke." Decades removed from her "SNL" hosting debut, the "Total Recall" and "Casino" star said she thinks that people don't know how to play with each other anymore and have become too guarded.

Read more:Dana Carvey lost his son Dex to addiction. In podcast return, he wants to laugh again

Carvey, 68, said he meant "no malice" when playing his "Indian" character, admitting "it was really me rhythmically trying to get laughs." After apologizing to Stone, he praised her performance.

"You were completely sincere and you made us funny," Carvey said.

Stone, who said she "blacked out" during her "SNL" debut, said she came to her senses right before the raunchy sketch. "I usually woke up when people started asking me to take my clothes off," she said. "You have a tendency to wake up for that."

The 66-year-old also recalled how demonstrators protested her "SNL" appearance shortly before her opening monologue. She said numerous people protesting her AIDS activism stormed the studio, threatening to kill her while she was onstage. "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels "personally saved my life" during the incident, she said.

"Lorne started, himself, beating up and pulling these people back from the stage," she recalled.

Stone has not returned to host "SNL" since her debut, but told Carvey and Spade she "would love to return to Studio 8H."

"Lorne always says, 'You're welcome back any time,' because I think he wants to make it up to me that I come on the show and no one will try to kill me," she joked.

Read more:Sharon Stone says ex-Sony boss harassed her, 'took his penis right out in my face’

Stone revisited her time on "SNL" weeks after alleging that late Hollywood boss Robert Evanspressured her into having sex with her "Sliver" co-star William "Billy" Baldwin. Stone alleged in a recent episode of “The Louis Theroux Podcast” that Evans said having a sexual relationship with Baldwin would make for a "better" performance onscreen. The claim first surfaced in Stone's 2021 memoir, "The Beauty of Living Twice," which did not identify either man by name at the time.

Read more:Courage Award winner Sharon Stone urges others to give as she talks about her losses

After Stone's allegations, Baldwin slammed his former co-star, writing on social media, "I have so much dirt on her it would make her head spin but I've kept quiet."

Baldwin, 61, continued: "The story of the meeting I had with Bob Evans imploring him allow me to choreograph the final sex scene ... so I wouldn’t have to kiss Sharon is absolute legend. Wonder if I should write a book and tell the many, many disturbing, kinky and unprofessional tales about Sharon? That might be fun.”

Stone has not yet responded to Baldwin's allegations.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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