What Happened To SNL's Victoria Jackson

Renowned for her physical comedy — she was always happy to break into a handstand or backbend at a moment's notice — her skills on the ukulele, and giant hair bow, Victoria Jackson was once regarded as one of America's funniest women. Indeed, thanks to countless appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and a "Saturday Night Live" stint that lasted six years, the Miami native was barely off our TV screens in the 1980s. She also managed to parlay her success into the film world, appearing in comedies "UHF," "I Love You to Death," and "Baby Boom."

However, as her political and religious beliefs became more publicly extreme, Jackson found herself on the list of stars shunned by Hollywood. The last time she regularly appeared on the box was playing quirky nanny Marie Rogers in Nickelodeon sitcom "Romeo!" way back in 2004. And she's now more likely to make headlines for her controversial opinions than her comedic talents. So what exactly has she been up to over the past two decades? From local council ambitions and long overdue debut albums to memoirs and major health issues, here's a look at her recent story. 

Having previously expressed her support for the Tea Party Movement, roasted fellow SNL graduate-turned-Democrat senator Al Franken on "The O'Reilly Factor," and labeled Barack Obama a communist, it wasn't exactly a surprise when Victoria Jackson helped to launch a new political web series that leaned heavily to the right.

Alongside co-hosts Jannique Stewart, Ann-Marie Murrell, and Jennie Jones, the comedian aimed to make "Politichicks" an alternative to a certain all-female daytime TV institution. "The View is so amazingly all liberal except for a tiny squeak from Elisabeth [Hasselbeck] once in a while," Jackson told Politico in 2011. "... We will probably have a token liberal eventually. Like The View has a token conservative."

Unsurprisingly, the Patriot Update offshoot didn't invite anyone from the left to join its panel. And Jackson seemed to make it crystal clear that they wouldn't be particularly welcome anyway, causing controversy with comments on everything from the Occupy Wall Street protests to marriage equality and an anti-Muslim song titled "Sharia Law."

In 2012, Victoria Jackson published Is "My Bow Too Big? How I Went from Saturday Night Live to the Tea Party," a memoir which as you'd expect from such a forthright comedian left no holds barred. "A rare example of autobiography the way it could and should be — nuanced, intimate, poignant, and compelling," it says on her official website. But there was at least one celebrity who didn't agree with such glowing words.

Indeed, while appearing on "Wasn't That Special: 50 Years of SNL," a podcast presented by Scot Bertram and Christian Schneider, Jackson claimed that Alec Baldwin had taken umbrage with a passage about his 1990 hosting gig on the late-night institution. In the book, the Miami native recalled an incident in which the future "30 Rock" star allegedly enquired about the size of her breasts.

"I didn't know if he was flirting with me or he was being mean, it was kind of a mixture" Jackson told the hosts (via Yahoo! News). "I think he heard about [the book] and ever since, Alec's been mean to me." This meanness included an appearance on David Spade and Dana Carvey's podcast "Fly on the Wall" in which Baldwin compared Jackson's breasts to garbage cans.

Victoria Jackson could never be described as a gay ally. In 2011, she described her horror over a same-sex kiss in "Glee" before claiming to Showbiz Tonight (via Newser) that homophobia was a "cute liberal buzzword of the liberal agenda." In 2023, she called for any books depicting the LGBTQ community taken off the Williamson County library shelves as a member of the parental group Moms for Liberty. And later that same year, she protested against a Pride festival at a Tennessee council meeting.

Taking to the stand, Jackson drew upon her unique understanding of scripture to blast the forthcoming event. "God hates sodomy," she said (via Pink News). "He hates homosexuality — he said it's an abomination. And God hates sexual immorality, all kinds. And God hates Pride. Like one of the most things he hates is Pride."

If that wasn't clear enough, Jackson also tried to promote a YouTube channel that promoted anti-gay views and expressed how she didn't want "this generation to be brainwashed." The former SNLer was eventually stopped in her tracks by a gavel-slamming councilor and a microphone-grabbing security guard.

Following her husband William Paul Wessel's retirement from the Miami-Dade SWAT team in 2013, Victoria Jackson decided to move from the Sunshine State to Nashville, Tennessee. The "Family Business" star claimed at the time that she'd wanted to be closer to their nearest and dearest, but judging by her comments to USA Today later that year, it wasn't the only reason.

"Living in Miami, I felt like I was in a foreign country," Jackson said. "Living in L.A. and New York, I felt like I was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, and living here I feel like I have died and went to heaven. Nashville has two of my favorite things: Jesus and show business." But the funnywoman didn't waste any time in upsetting some of her new neighbors.

Indeed, shortly after a Muslim man named Daoud Abudiab had also moved nearby, Jackson wrote a blog post with the title "Civilization Jihad Hits Home (my back yard, literally)." She also protested against a public discussion by the American Muslim Advisory Council and the construction of a mosque in the neighboring Murfreesboro. "A spiritual battle over the soul of America," is how she described her crusade.

After vowing to go into politics for several years, Victoria Jackson put her money where her mouth is in 2014 when she bid for one of two Williamson County Commission seats available in a Tennessee election. Unfortunately for the former SNLer, she came a distant third to fellow candidates Betsy Hester and Judy Lynch Herbert, securing just 632 votes.

Although Jackson initially appeared to have accepted her defeat, she soon made it clear that her political rivals hadn't seen the last of her. Indeed, on her blog, the comedian expressed concerns that Herbert and Hester weren't prepared enough to combat the policies of then-President Barack Obama.

"I think they've been living in the Williamson County bubble and are not aware that the Obama Administration and the fast-moving lunge toward socialism in our country has begun to erase our freedoms, even here," a typically bolshy Jackson wrote (via UPI). "As their annoying constituent, I will try to share my knowledge and research with them, so they can make wise choices."

In January 2016, Victoria Jackson took to her personal blog to reveal the devastating news that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. Alongside a series of heartwarming family snaps and home videos and the promo for Joey and Rory's song, "When I'm Gone," the star then explained how she learned of her condition.

"It all happened pretty suddenly," Jackson began. "I went to the walk-in clinic for a cough. I asked the Nurse Practitioner if the numb spot near my underarm was my lymph gland fighting the cough." The funny woman went on to add how she was immediately admitted to the Vanderbilt Breast Clinic, where she underwent a double mastectomy and was awaiting her first course of chemotherapy.

"The funny thing is I've never felt healthier," Jackson continued, pointing to the fact that she didn't have any symptoms and that only two weeks previously she'd done a handstand on stage. The comedian also discussed how her faith has helped her to get through such a difficult time. "Cancer is a horrible word. But, let me tell you, as a Jesus follower, this has strangely been a blessing to my family and made us much closer to each other and to God."

It seems fair to conclude that Victoria Jackson isn't on Barack Obama's Christmas card list. The star, a proud supporter of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement, spent much of the 43rd's reign as president bringing his name into disrepute.

In 2008, she claimed that Obama wasn't a Christian while delivering a speech at the Hollywood Congress of Republicans. A year later, she recorded a song titled "There's a Communist Living in the White House." And in 2015, she accused him of being an "Islamic jihadist." And let's not forget how she suffered a complete Twitter meltdown in the wake of his 2012 reelection. 

Then there was the time she fell for a piece from satirical news site National Report, which joked that the POTUS was spending the 4th of July at the White House with a group of Muslim leaders. "Obama continues to slap America in the face and spit on her," she angrily tweeted (via Los Angeles Times) while also reposting the article on her own personal website. "I am outraged," she continued before adding without a hint of self-awareness, "If you're not, you are uninformed."

After spending eight years bashing the president of the United States at any given opportunity, Victoria Jackson unsurprisingly changed tatics when Donald Trump ascended to the White House. Indeed, the star continually expressed her support for the 44th (and 46th) on social media, once imploring her Instagram followers to follow her lead and cast their votes for the entrepreneur.

Jackson has also claimed that she helped spearhead the Make America Great Again idea when Trump was better known as the host of "The Apprentice." "The MAGA Movement is the Tea Party with a new name," she captioned an Instagram reel in 2024, referring to the ultra-conservative organization she was a proud member of. "We started fighting back against Marxism in 2010!"

Jackson has also defended Trump by calling out her old "Saturday Night Live" stomping ground. "Now the agenda is so blatant. It's obvious that they want to push a far-left agenda to indoctrinate a new generation," she told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "They couldn't even tell a joke about Obama. When Alec Baldwin does [former President Donald] Trump, it's done with hate. When we did political figures, it was with love and humor."

Victoria Jackson has never been shy about her fervent religious beliefs, even when she was a major player on "Saturday Night Live." She once gifted her colleagues audio versions of the Bible for Christmas, for example, and refused to appear in a sketch mocking the concept of prayers. She now believes that her faith cost her.

Indeed, in a 2022 interview with the Minnesota Star Tribune, Jackson claimed that she'd essentially been blacklisted by Hollywood for proudly extolling her Christian values. "The only people you can make fun of is blondes — dumb blonde jokes. You can't make fun of Muslims, or you die."

But Jackson acknowledged her acting ambitions may have been stalled by someone with a higher power than studio executives. "I was never the lead in a feature film again," she said, referring to the 1986 comedy "Casual Sex" in which she flaunted her bare derriere. "I can't help but think God was saying, 'Vicki, you crossed the line. I'm not going to bless your movie career.'"

Although it's been a long time since Victoria Jackson enjoyed a high profile, she hasn't entirely abandoned her acting career. In the last decade, she's appeared in rom-com "The Matchmaker," Christian movies "Saving Faith" and "Heaven Bound," and seasonal films "Get Him Back for Christmas" and "Jingle Smells."

The latter, in which an action movie hero incurs the wrath of cancel culture after advocating for both his homeland and his faith, also gave Jackson the opportunity to play against type. Indeed, the star who once described a same-sex kiss on "Glee" as "sickening" appears as a rage-fueled liberal who takes umbrage with anyone not considered "woke."

Of course, while promoting the comedy, Jackson made it clear that the role hadn't influenced her real-life mindset. "In the '70s they were the rebels," she remarked to Hollywood in Toto about "Saturday Night Live." "Now, to be a rebel means being a woke leftist propagandist. We made fun of all the presidents equally, but when Obama was the president, they wouldn't make fun of him. I think it's racist to treat a black person differently, and they treated him differently."

Following in the footsteps of fellow "SNL" graduates Adam Sandler, Robert Downey Jr., and Paul Shaffer, Victoria Jackson finally got around to releasing her debut album in 2023 at the age of 64. "I want to be the next Minnie Pearl," she declared while announcing its release, referring to the comedic country singer of the mid-20th century she named a song after.

"When I Get To Nashville" saw Jackson perform no fewer than 18 ditties, as well as various stand-up routines, inspired by events since her relocation from Miami to Music City 11 years previously. "My dad, mom and brother died, I got cancer, my three dogs died, and my husband of 30 years asked for a divorce," she explained in a press release. "It's good songwriting material. All good art comes from pain. Actually, he didn't ask for a divorce — he screamed it, a million times. But we're still married!"

The album, which also boasted a guest appearance from her old "Saturday Night Live" castmate Rob Schneider, wasn't the first time Jackson had displayed her musical talents, of course. She repeatedly showed off her ukulele skills and high-pitched singing voice during her stint on the comedy institution and the talk show circuit.

Eight years after first disclosing on Instagram that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer, Victoria Jackson took to the same social media platform to reveal some even more devastating news. Doctors had discovered a windpipe tumor which was not only inoperable but left her with approximately only three years to live.

"They're giving me a magic pill," Jackson told followers about the treatment that would make her condition more comfortable. "It's going to be delivered to my front door within the next 12 hours. It's based on Ribociclib, and it will shrink the marble, hopefully ... I looked up the pill on Google and it says people who take this have 32.6 months to live — something like that."

Jackson went on to list some of the life achievements she's most proud of before stating what milestones she still hoped to be around for. "I'd like to see my grandson born — his name is Jimmy — in October and get to know [him] a little and I would like to see my daughter Aubrey have a baby."

Having repeatedly slammed the state of modern "Saturday Night Live," you might have thought that Victoria Jackson would have burned all her bridges with the comedy institution. However, in 2025, the funnywoman, whose stint on the show lasted from 1986 to 1992, was invited to attend not just one but two of its 50th anniversary events.

And Jackson gladly accepted both invitations, gracing the red carpet at "SNL50: The Homecoming Concert" before rocking up to "SNL50: The Anniversary Special" just a few days later. And as you'd expect, the comedian made sure to wear her trademark giant bow on each occasion.

Jackson seemed to enjoy mixing with the comedic elite again, posting behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram in which she posed alongside the likes of Jim Gaffigan, Jack Brayer, and former writer Jim Downey. She also appeared in a selfie taken by Jon Lovitz, which included Adam Sandler and Paul McCartney. The Miami native also thanked the "Happy Gilmore" star for including her in the backdrop for his musical performance. But it turns out she wasn't happy with every star who took to the stage.

While most viewers enjoyed seeing Tom Hanks in all of the "SNL50" celebrations, several on the right of the political spectrum were left disgusted. The "Forrest Gump" star brought the house down by playing a MAGA supporter who appears on a fake quiz show titled Black Jeopardy. But as you'd expect, Victoria Jackson didn't appreciate the joke.

Speaking to TMZ, the funny woman described the sketch as "stupid" before asking, "Did anyone make fun of the Kamala supporters?!" She also expressed her agreement with a social media post from Link Lauren, formerly an aide to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who claimed that such apparent bias is why the ratings for "Saturday Night Live" had nosedived.

However, Jackson later claimed that she had no beef with Hanks specifically. "Tom, I'm sorry if I slammed you," she insisted in an Instagram video. "I didn't slam you." The comedian went on to argue that she'd been put on the spot by TMZ about the skit and that she'd been a victim of the tabloid media. "Comedy is exaggeration, journalism is not supposed to be exaggeration," she added, having she and Hanks had enjoyed a perfectly cordial conversation backstage.