If you have been waiting for the day when Tina Fey launches her own line of designer glasses, do not hold your breath.
The “30 Rock” creator, former “Saturday Night Live” head writer and star and nine-time Emmy winner revealed during a guest appearance on longtime friend and collaborator Amy Poehler‘s new podcast, “Good Hang With Amy Poehler,” that she has no interest in starting her own “side hustle.” As a matter of fact, she actually judges her fellow celebrities who do.
“You have incredible hair. I feel like you should have a hair campaign and also I’m always pushing you to have a glasses line,” Poehler told her friend. “Why do you not have a glasses line? [Do] you hate money?”
“I do kind of hate money,” Fey joked. “As we know, I’m terrible with money only in that I don’t waste money, but I don’t get excited about money. If I’m safe and I have enough money to live, I have a problem with rich people having a side hustle.” While Poehler jokingly asked if she was referring to a friend starting a podcast, she quickly conceded, “I know what you mean — like if I had a rosé.”
“Yeah, if you already have like $200 million … I judge it,” Fey explained. You can watch the duo’s full podcast conversation in the video below.
Her discussion with Poehler reminded Fey of a specific instance of celebrity branding from years ago that gets to the root of her problem with side hustles started by famous figures.
“One time a million years ago, I remember seeing — and I won’t name this actress but someone could figure it out — an ’80s actress promoting her line of homeopathic children’s medications,” Fey recalled. “I was like, ‘Why on this Earth would I trust an actress for pediatric medications?’”
Poehler understood where Fey was coming from, but she also urged her fellow former “SNL” star to move past her own misgivings and get with the times. “Tina, this is where you have to learn from Gen Z,” Poehler said. “They don’t judge it! You should stop, because this is the thing now. You have to have a million [things]. You have to have glasses!”
In recent years, it has felt like more and more celebrities have started launching their own wellness, alcohol and even fast food brands, and Fey is not the first Hollywood figure to poke fun at the trend. In January, Golden Globes host Nikki Glaser also joked about the subject.
“I do want to remind you if you do lose tonight, please just keep in mind that the point of making art is not to win an award,” Glaser told those in attendance. “The point of making art is to start a tequila brand so popular that you never have to make art again.”
You can watch Fey’s full conversation in the video above. You can listen to the “Good Hang With Amy Poehler” podcast episode here.
