Comic actor Horatio Sanz is accused in a new lawsuit of sexually assaulting a teenage fan during his 1998-2006 run on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
The suit, filed Thursday in New York, says Sanz kissed the girl, then 17, and touched her inappropriately during and after two parties attended by his “SNL” colleagues in 2002. Earlier that night he provided her with alcohol, the suit says.
The assault followed several months of communication on AOL Instant Messenger in which Sanz discussed sex with her and urged her to take revealing photos, the suit alleges.
The girl, who lives in Pennsylvania and is identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, said she met Sanz when she was 15 and a frequent poster on “SNL” websites and message boards. She also is suing NBC’s parent company and SNL Studios.
A spokesman for Sanz told pagesix.com the claims are “categorically false.”
“However often she repeats her ludicrous allegations or tries to rope in other high-profile names to generate media attention, they will always be false,” said the rep, Andrew Brettler. “Before filing this lawsuit anonymously, she demanded $7.5 million in exchange for her silence. We, of course, refused and will vigorously contest these totally meritless claims.”
The lawsuit says Sanz had a lengthy text exchange with the plaintiff in 2019 in which he acknowledged making out with her and masturbating during their online chats, and called his past behavior “a big mistake” and apologized.
A Chile native, Sanz grew up in Humboldt Park and got his start on the Chicago stages of ImprovOlympic and Second City. On “SNL,” he was known for his portrayals of singer Elton John, the obliging stepdad Rick, the cheery Carol and the stoner webcast host Gobi.
He later co-starred on the short-lived sitcoms “In the Motherhood” and “Great News” and recently has appeared on “GLOW,” “Black Monday” and “The Mandalorian.”
