I’ve not watched Saturday Night Live regularly for a while because I’m usually in bed reading or watching something on Netflix or Hulu. I mentioned the other day that I love Leslie Jones. I’m also a fan of Kate McKinnon, and one of the people whom she’s known for playing on SNL is Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Kate met the Notorious R.B.G. at a performance of Fiddler on the Roof and was understandably starstruck:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg meet … Ruth Bader Ginsburg!
The Supreme Court justice ran into Saturday Night Live‘s Kate McKinnon — who famously plays Ginsburg as a feisty sprite with a stand-up’s spirit, no larger than a flea and sharper than a razor blade — when the two attended an off-Broadway performance of Fiddler on the Roof on Tuesday night, PEOPLE confirms.
“Both were incredibly gracious and kind,” a source at the scene tells PEOPLE, noting the women “raved about how much they loved the show.”
McKinnon “was star struck,” according to Fiddler actor Nick Raynor, who recorded part of their meeting in a video later shared on Twitter.
The all-Yiddish production is directed by Joel Grey, who joined Ginsburg, 86, and McKinnon, 35, on stage after the show, the source says. They also met and posed for photos with cast and crew.
“Ruth and Kate both came into the house right before the curtain rose for Act 1, so not a lot of people noticed,” the source explains. “But at intermission, word spread with the crowd and they went crazy for her, giving her a standing ovation after she came back from the bathroom. Someone even shouted ‘Rock on Ruth!’ It was electrifying.”
“These two incredible women — it could not have made me happier,” Grey, 87, tells PEOPLE. Ginsburg, whom he says he last saw at a friend’s son’s bar mitzvah a few years ago, “was generous and sweet. The audience went crazy for her.”
The video (below) of Kate being awed saying goodbye to Justice Ginsburg is incredibly sweet. Stars, they geek out when they meet other famous people, too, just like the rest of us! It doesn’t seem like the two women had much of a chance to chat, but I’d like to think that maybe someday soon they’ll meet up for lunch in D.C. or New York and Justice Ginsburg will confirm that all of the opinions that Kate offered when she portrayed the justice weren’t too far off the mark. (I know that that’s unlikely.) I’ve met a few famous people, and always make it a point to try to remain calm so that I don’t end up making myself look ridiculous, so I definitely recognized Kate’s quiet fangirling after Justice Ginsburg left. Most of the people I’ve met have been authors, though, at book signings. I was lucky to meet Toni Morrison years ago, and if you are a fan of Neil Gaiman who hasn’t yet made it to one of his events, do go, as he is lovely and gracious to everyone he chats with.
📹 | Kate saying goodbye to RBG backstage at @FiddlerNYC last night! pic.twitter.com/0XDqkIdkQT
— Adoring Kate McKinnon (@KateMcKinnonNet) August 14, 2019
At @FiddlerNYC and Ruth Bader Ginsburg is here! And Kate McKinnon just shook her hand!!! In all seriousness, this is a show that all #SCOTUS, judges, government officials should see. #seeingdouble #fiddlerontheroof #empathy #refugees #immigrants pic.twitter.com/6rdCvNpb6k
— 𝗡𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗮 🙋🏻♀️ (@spinstripes) August 14, 2019
Good to see RBG out for an evening and Kate fangirling! (maybe a little worried what RBG might say to her).
I’ve seen this production of Fiddler, and it is deeply moving. I was slightly crying through the whole show. It’s a phenomenal experience. Highly recommend!
RBG comes to Glimmerglass Opera in Cooperstown every summer where she also gives an always sold out lecture. As an usher there I have had the pleasure of meeting her twice and can confirm she is a total badass.
That is so awesome to hear. I really admire her.
Who’s the young cutie sitting next to RGB? They should invite her onto the show, a sketch like the one with Hillary Clinton.
I’d guess a grandson or nephew? They resemble each other.
Who wouldn’t be starstruck when meeting RBG?
May she continue to have a healthy, long, productive life!
RBG is great and I wish her longevity in this horrible climate but she can be a tad iffy for me, I was taken aback by her calling Colin Kaepernick “stupid” for kneeling and by her praise of Brett Kavanaugh.
In her 25+ years as a Supreme Court Justice, she has never had an African-American clerk. With all the talented African American graduates from the top law schools, that’s a huge red flag.
She’s also made some terrible calls regarding tribal law that have blithely ignored treaty rights. There’s a lot to admire about her, but seriously: don’t canonize anyone even tangentially involved in politics.