The iconic Saturday Night Live “Single Ladies” sketch featuring Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, and Bobby Moynihan as Beyoncé’s backup dancers almost didn’t happen.
It took intervention from Timberlake in the form of putting on a leotard and heels to help convince Beyoncé, Entertainment Weekly reported.
“She was very polite about it, but she was very hesitant, and when I say hesitant, I mean, like, she was not having it,” Timberlake said of Beyoncé’s initial reaction to his pitch in the documentary Ladies & Gentleman…50 Years of SNL Music, which aired on NBC on February 15.
The idea originated when Samberg (with whom Timberlake had previously made “Dick in a Box”) texting him the idea to comedically recreate Beyoncé’s 2008 black-and-white music video for her hit “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”
“He said, ‘Bobby Moynihan has this great idea for a sketch about you, me, and him being Beyoncé’s background dancers for ‘Single Ladies’ that never made the cut,'” Timberlake recalled. Samberg also mentioned that Beyoncé would be that week’s musical guest on SNL.
“I was like, ‘Full leotard?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah,’” Timberlake continued. “And I was like, ‘Oh, this is too funny. Like—we have to do this.’”
When it came to convincing Beyoncé, it took a little work. The Grammy-winning performer said she was confused, because the song—called “Single Ladies,” after all—should probably have dancers that were “strong, beautiful women,” according to Paul Rudd as he, too, was in the sketch and remembered the moment.
“I’m like, ‘Does she know how funny this is gonna be? How beloved this whole moment will be?’” Timberlake said in the documentary. To prove his point, he said, “Bring me the leotard.”
To make the case for the sketch, Timberlake put on the black leotard, pantyhose, and high heels—with a robe covering his ensemble—and headed to Beyoncé’s dressing room. “I knocked on her door,” he said. “I walked in, and I threw the robe down, and I put my hands on my hips.”
The risk worked. Beyoncé—laughing at Timberlake’s getup—said, simply, “No, you didn’t,” Timberlake recalled.
The sketch, of course, became an instant classic, and Beyoncé and her real backup dancers performed the song and its oft-imitated dance that same night on SNL.
