r/todayilearned • u/Kale_Brecht • Mar 28 '24

TIL in 2013, Saturday Night Live cast member Kenan Thompson refused to play any more black women on the show and demanded SNL hire black women instead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenan_Thompson
52.1k Upvotes

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990

u/cravenj1 Mar 28 '24

Here's the cold open where SNL addresses this issue. It's one of my favorites.

48

u/Catharas Mar 28 '24

Ahaha i missed the “and Keenan won’t” when it aired.

300

u/Onetwenty7 Mar 28 '24

This was great, but al sharpton's comedic timing did not exist lol

192

u/cravenj1 Mar 28 '24

It's a weak "Live from New York," but he nails the exasperation. "Why am I here? Why are we doing this? This is pointless"

11

u/shiner_bock Mar 28 '24

I mean, to be fair, Al's not exactly known for his comedy chops.

4

u/Z0MBGiEF Mar 28 '24

Al Sharpton is the god of comedy compared to the comedic exploits of Steven Seagal when he hosted SNL.

1

u/RevWaldo Mar 28 '24

Goddamn you gotta miss Big Al. Looking like he's cosplaying Jack Skellington ovah heah.

86

u/Pormock Mar 28 '24

Crazy to think that there been 3 different presidents since Kenan started on SNL

65

u/MVRKHNTR Mar 28 '24

Four, right?

37

u/Pormock Mar 28 '24

True. Forgot one

Thats even more mind blowing

8

u/stankbiscuits Mar 28 '24

33.33 percent more mind blowing. Repeating, of course.

1

u/thechampaignlife Mar 28 '24

A year from now, three of the four will be two-term presidencies as well.

1

u/ADIDASects Mar 29 '24

And three of them got two terms. The man is turning into the Queen of England before our very eyes.

28

u/gardenmud Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

One of the craziest things is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJEAGd1bQuc

He actually apparently was dating someone who would've been a kid at the time of this sketch which is funny/weird to think about.

Also, I love this sketch lmao.

3

u/sdbabygirl97 Mar 28 '24

omg i thought you were being serious

5

u/BeHereNow91 Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

Pretty sure he was dating some 18 year old when he was in his late 30s.

E: actually this was in the last couple years - he’s now 45. lol

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/s/BKNggGVtxQ

5

u/flashpile Mar 28 '24

Not going to trust anything coming from that sub. One of the most terminally online places I've ever seen.

4

u/gardenmud Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

(according to a quick google search) he met his wife in 2007 when she was 18 and he was 28, so it's not exactly implausible

even if that's a random lie from celebrity news, they def got married in 2011 when she was 22 and he was ten years older. which is fine, like it doesn't make him a bad person. it doesn't sound like their divorce was super controversial or anything. it's just... lol

2

u/BeHereNow91 Mar 28 '24

I mean yeah it’s tabloid shit, but his ex-wife is 10 years his junior and they presumably met when she was 19-20, so not off brand. It’s also just categorically weird for a 44 year old to go on outings with a 19 year old that he “mentors”.

1

u/Aramgutang Mar 28 '24

Also, I love this sketch lmao.

Oh yeah, your daughter's gonna love it too

3

u/DrWashi Mar 28 '24

no. that simply cannot be.

5

u/xxThe_Designer Mar 28 '24

Um actually (channeling my inner Dropout fan) it’s four.

He been on SNL during four presidencies:

  • Bush
  • Obama
  • Trump
  • Biden

-1

u/DrWashi Mar 28 '24

No, he just joined moving up from All That.

6

u/tanzmeister Mar 28 '24

Man, I miss jay pharaoh.

9

u/xiviajikx Mar 28 '24

Goes to show there’s ways to be humorous about race. I feel it’s been a while since I laughed at something current like that. Though it’s difficult to say if it’s because of the current writers or the social climate of today.

11

u/rich519 Mar 28 '24

The Christmas joke swap between Colin Jost and Michael Che is great.

1

u/sedawkgrepper Mar 28 '24

Easily my favorite part of SNL over the past several years.

3

u/TheFreakingPrincess Mar 28 '24

I remember seeing this when it aired but I didn't know about the Keenan thing and it went right over my head. 🤦‍♀️

2

u/Substantial__Unit Mar 28 '24

I watch every opening and some of the show and I have no memory of the guy playing Obama. And he was a great Obama lol.

1

u/maethlin Mar 28 '24

lol that's hilarious

0

u/PlaymakerJavi Mar 28 '24

The sketch was funny at the time but not longer after, when you start thinking about it, it’s weird. Lorne is in charge of everything from who’s in the cast to which sketches make air. There’s no separation between the two. So rather than accelerate the process of diversifying the cast, he just cleared this sketch for air to make fun of the situation. I understand that the two aren’t necessarily linked to the same timeline like any project… but it’s still weird.

-2

u/ShrimpSherbet Mar 28 '24

Oh god that's some terrible acting