Somebody once told Tina Fey that her daughter Penelope was gonna roll her. The 30 Rock star was left feeling some dread after her 8-year-old, feeling smug, raised her finger and her thumb to make the shape of an “L” on her forehead. Such was the fate that unfurled during the May 12 episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. As Tina, 49, spoke remotely to Seth Meyers, 46, about the interactive Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt special on Netflix, Tina suddenly paused their conversation. “Please hold, there’s a colonial lady coming in,” she said, referring to her daughter’s dress. “Yes, can I help you?”
“I’m sorry, you’re not making [any] sound,” said Tina. “We’re taping a television program right now. Do you need something?” It seems that Penelope needed to channel Alicia Silverstone’s Cher from Clueless. After Tina shifted her camera to allow her daughter to come into view, the young girl slowly brought her hand up to her forehead. Tina, gazing in horror, asked her daughter, “You’re calling me a loser?”
“She just called us losers!” a shocked Tina said to Seth, while a laughing Penelope ran offscreen. “The colonial lady called us losers!” Seth, outraged, said, “We’re not losers!” Tina, running with the whole “Colonial Williamsburg” theme of Penelope’s outfit, raised an “L” to her own forehead. “This meant ‘Loyalist’ in Colonial times!” she shouted. So, in the span of a minute, the interview went from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to Clueless (or Shrek, if you’re an “All-Star”) to The Patriot. These are indeed surprising times.
At least Tina ended this instance with a smile on her face, instead of with a tear in her eye. Days after she returned to Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, Tina hosted a virtual telethon on Monday (May 11) to raise money for the New York-based poverty-fighting organization Robin Hood. The event raised up to $115 million to help Robin Hood’s COVID-19 relief fund, a number that left Tina shocked. “Is this real? Okay. $115 million. We did this. We did this. We are the difference makers,” she said, tearing up. “$115 million. What a great day for New York. Thank you, everyone, who gave and gave and gave, all over the world.”