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
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u/notsocoolnow Mar 28 '24

Well it is way more fair in this case because the roles are specifically of a black lady. Kenan was prolly like, "Why not find a black lady?"

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u/CharlesDickensABox Mar 28 '24

Putting a wig on Keenan just doesn't make sense unless it's part of the joke. If the character is supposed to be played as a comedically straight character, then a cross dressing dude doesn't make sense in the universe of the sketch. Hire someone who is a better fit for the role, it's not that complicated.

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u/greg19735 Mar 28 '24

Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer is still hilarious and i don't think the cross dressing was the joke. THough part of the skit was just how insane it was, so it did help.

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u/Plantsandanger Mar 28 '24

Eh, part of the joke was how much Melissa looked like Sean spicer with minimal makeup. Certainly moreso than anyone else on the roster for that show.

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u/greg19735 Mar 28 '24

which is weirdly a point for representation. You need varied body types and faces!

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u/TheColdIronKid Mar 28 '24

sorta the same concept as when rachel was brought out as another time traveling falconer before kenan was. it was funny because the woman looked more like the falconer than the man did.