Comedian Kenan Thompson says his “fair” peers on “Saturday Night Live” were held “hostage” last week by rapper Kanye West during the show’s season premiere.
The man with a record 16 seasons on “SNL” told Seth Meyers on Monday night that a “trap” was set by its MAGA-hat wearing musical host, which snared most of the cast. Mr. Thompson said anyone who joined the singer on stage at his request entered a “wolves’ den.”
“[Mr. West] proceeds to ka-ka on people,” Mr. Thompson told the “Late Night with Seth Meyers” crowd. “He voiced his opinion, very loudly, for a long time. We’re all entitled to our opinion … but, you know, I don’t know if that’s the moment, necessarily, to hold people hostage like that — but hey.
“We are fair,” he continued. “We’re in a service business. We try to cater to the host, make sure they have a good show and what not, and then when musical guests come in and they’re a little bit crazy. Maybe they’re a little bit crazy — we let them have that. But we don’t judge. We’re not there to judge.”
Mr. West’s remarks, however, suggest that he was partly motivated by orders not to wear a “Make America Great Again” hat during his performance.
“You see they laughing at me,” the singer said. “You heard them. They scream at me. They bully me. They bullied me backstage. They said, ’Don’t go out there with that hat on.’ They bullied me backstage. They bullied me. And then they say I’m in a sunken place.”
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Mr. West’s remarks went viral after comedian Chris Rock, who was in the audience, recorded and shared the monologue with his phone.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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