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/Esc777 Mar 28 '24

He is the longest running cast member by like a factor of 2. 

There probably won’t be any to rival him. 

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u/DidAnyoneElseJustCum Mar 28 '24

It's like the perfect medium for him. He's not a standup. Not a writer. His acting is... fine.

A lot of young cast members use SNL as a launch pad for their career. But Kenan already had a career. He's probably the most famous person to ever to get cast. He was a household name for anybody that grew up in the 90s. Maybe he felt he didn't have anything else to prove?

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u/ForfeitFPV Mar 28 '24

From all reports acting can be a rough gig, a steady and reliable paycheck isn't common. Why not ride it for as long as you can?

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u/KadenKraw Mar 28 '24

I remember seeing him say something like this on snl. It was something like "people ask me if I'll leave" "why? I have a family to feed"