Ben Stiller, Mark Hamill and More Defend Martin Short After Op-Ed Calls Him ‘Exhausting, Sweaty and Desperately Unfunny’

Ben Stiller, Mark Hamill and more stars are jumping to Martin Short’s defense after an op-ed labeled the Emmy award winner “exhausting, sweaty and desperately unfunny.”

The Slate op-ed, titled “Why We Keep Putting Up With Martin Short,” critiqued Short’s comedic career, describing his roles as “over-the-top characters” that are “unbelievably annoying.”

After the article was published on Friday, many of Short’s colleagues took to social media to publicly praise the “only Murders in the Building” actor. Fellow “Saturday Night Live” alum Ben Stiller wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Martin Short is a comedic genius. End o story.”

Mark Hamill, the original Luke Skywalker from the “Star Wars” franchise, compiled a collage of some of Short’s comedic characters throughout his career, writing, “Hard to believe people are actually debating whether or not Martin Short is funny. Newsflash: He is HILARIOUS. #ComicGenius.”

“SNL” comedian and “Better Call Saul” actor Micheal McKean wrote, “Guy really blew the lid off of the whole Martin Short story, didn’t he?”

“Succession’s” J. Smith-Cameron directly criticized writer Dan Kois’ op-ed: “The infamous Martin Short article is filled with clips or references to characters that the writer finds annoying somehow, but are so entertaining that the article is a valentine in spite of itself.”