Adam Sandler Says Wearing Black Tie to SNL 50 Was ‘Terrible’

Adam Sandler was not a fan of the SNL 50 dress code.

The notoriously casually-dressed comedian rocked full black tie for SNL 50: The Anniversary Special in New York on Sunday, February 16, but joked that he wasn’t in his element.

“It’s a terrible feeling, I agree,” Sandler, 58, quipped to Variety on the red carpet after a reporter noted, “I can’t believe we got Adam Sandler in black tie.”

“Al Franken saw me in a sweatshirt last night and he was like, ‘What are you doing’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, alright, I don’t want to let Al down,’ so I put a tux on,” Sandler admitted, referring to the former SNL writer and performer turned U.S. senator.

Sandler has enjoyed a laidback approach to his red carpet style over the years, so much so that even his pal, Jennifer Aniston, was shocked to see him in a suit when she awarded him the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in March 2023.

“He wore a suit. He never wears a suit!” Aniston quipped during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon later that month. “It is weird because he kind of looks like he’s just playing dress-up. And he kind of just seems very uncomfortable.”

Sandler’s love for sweatshirts and shorts has made him an ironic style icon.

“It took a while. I was working that angle for years,” the Hustle actor joked to Esquire in June 2022 about his newfound status as an aspirational style icon. “For a while, I was like, ‘Please accept me and the way I dress.’ And 30 years later, they finally came around.”

The “they” he was referring to not only included his fans but also the fashion press, with Vogue declaring him the “fashion icon of the year” in 2021. That same year, he was the most Googled celebrity style icon and topped the list again in 2022.

While imitators spend countless hours trying to create their own haphazard outfits, the comedian’s style motto is actually quite simple. “It’s all comfort and it’s a lot of, ‘Hopefully, this fits,’” Sandler told Esquire. “Anything that feels soft I usually buy.”

Sandler and wife Jackie were on hand Sunday night to celebrate the 50th anniversary of SNL. He was a cast member from 1990 to 1995.

Ahead of the celebration, SNL creator Lorne Michaels reflected on the milestone moment. “I’ve been forced to believe it’s the 50th season because I was there for most of it, but we still take it one week at a time,” Michaels told Emmy magazine earlier this month. “The great part of doing the show is that whatever happened last week, you’re onto this week. We’re always looking for what’s fresh. Life is all about reinvention.”