Kenan Thompson was one of the few who witnessed Kanye West's controversial off-air rant firsthand at the end of Saturday Night Live's season premiere on September 29, and he spoke about the surreal experience with his former SNL colleague Seth Meyers last night (October 1).
Thompson appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and the pals got right into talking about the "circus" that took place at the end of the episode.
"He voiced his opinion very loudly," Thomspon said rather diplomatically, referring to West's MAGA hat-wearing diatribe. "For a long time."
"We're all entitled to our opinion," he continued. "I don't know if that's the moment, necessarily, to hold people hostage like that, but you know."
Luckily for him, Thompson remained backstage to check out the performance on monitors.
"I would rather watch the performance on TV," he explained. "Sometimes I like watching the musical performance how everyone would see it on TV as a viewer."
Unfortunately for a lot of his co-stars, they accepted West's invite onstage and stood there looking awkward as hell throughout the entire speech.
"When you saw what happened, were you so happy with the choice you'd made?" Meyers asked. Thompson didn't hesitate before answering, "For sure."
"I felt so bad for those guys because it's hard to stand there and not be able to debate somebody who's going so far against your personal opinion and just stand there and take it," he added.
Thompson is currently in his 16th season on SNL, holding the all-time record for the longest tenure by a cast member on the show. Meyers is slated to return to the show as host with musical guest Paul Simon on October 13.
Watch Thompson and Meyer's chat below.
Thompson appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and the pals got right into talking about the "circus" that took place at the end of the episode.
"He voiced his opinion very loudly," Thomspon said rather diplomatically, referring to West's MAGA hat-wearing diatribe. "For a long time."
"We're all entitled to our opinion," he continued. "I don't know if that's the moment, necessarily, to hold people hostage like that, but you know."
Luckily for him, Thompson remained backstage to check out the performance on monitors.
"I would rather watch the performance on TV," he explained. "Sometimes I like watching the musical performance how everyone would see it on TV as a viewer."
Unfortunately for a lot of his co-stars, they accepted West's invite onstage and stood there looking awkward as hell throughout the entire speech.
"When you saw what happened, were you so happy with the choice you'd made?" Meyers asked. Thompson didn't hesitate before answering, "For sure."
"I felt so bad for those guys because it's hard to stand there and not be able to debate somebody who's going so far against your personal opinion and just stand there and take it," he added.
Thompson is currently in his 16th season on SNL, holding the all-time record for the longest tenure by a cast member on the show. Meyers is slated to return to the show as host with musical guest Paul Simon on October 13.
Watch Thompson and Meyer's chat below.
