SNL boss Lorne Michaels pays tribute to late Chris Farley after Emmy win

Saturday Night Live winning an Emmy last night may not have been too unexpected, but when the show’s creator Lorne Michaels collected the trophy, he delivered a surprisingly emotional acceptance speech in tribute to the late Chris Farley.

The episode submitted for this year’s awards was the Adam Sandler-hosted episode containing a tribute to the late actor, who died in 1997 from a drug overdose, and Michaels made sure to honour his memory in his touching acceptance speech.

Picking up the award for best Variety Sketch Series – the 72nd award given to the show over its 44 seasons – Michaels called the moment ‘very chilling’ and ‘very powerful’.

‘This means a lot,’ Michaels said.

‘The show we submitted was the show Adam Sandler did. He came back to host 24 years after he left, and in middle of the show he did a tribute to Chris Farley.

‘The crew and the cast and everyone who was in that studio, most of whom worked here when Chris Farley and Adam Sandler were young men. It’s rare that you see a cameraman tear up or the boom crew crying. It was a very chilling moment, and very powerful.’

He added that Sandler’s Farley tribute are ‘what keeps us there. And the politics.’

Farley, who died aged 33 from a cocaine and morphine overdose, was known for his outlandish sense of humour.

Following his death, Adam, David Spade and Chris Rock have been among those to keep his memory alive.

All of them were present when he was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2005, with Farley’s mother picking up the plaque in his name.

SNL also won the Emmy for Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series, with director Don Roy King, who directed the submitted episode, accepting the award.

MORE: Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage breaks no-swearing rule during iconic Emmys speech

MORE: All the madness from the Emmys 2019 after party you weren’t invited to as Drake schmoozes and Game Of Thrones cast reunite