Kanye West seemingly has a love-hate relationship with the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. The musician/fashion designer famously told the SNL cast to kiss his “whole ass” on this single “Power” off My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but he has also been a musical guest on the show multiple times, including a highly-publicized appearance two years ago after he beefed with the variety show in 2010.
The G.O.O.D. Music founder claimed he was “bullied” at SNL in 2018 for giving a pro-Donald Trump speech while wearing a Make America Great Again hat. Insiders connected to SNL denied West was ever harassed over his MAGA support and pointed out that he wore the controversial red cap during promotional videos prior to the episode.
Fast forward to October 2020 and Kanye West has a new grievance with the people at Saturday Night Live. West took issue with a segment starring this week’s host, Issa Rae. In the scene, the Insecure actress was playing a political analyst on a local news program called “Your Voice Chicago” where the character expressed support for any Black political candidate except Kanye West who is currently running a virtually unwinnable campaign to be President of the United States.
The sketch ended with Rae (as fictional NAACP counsel Jamele Demmings) saying, “Kanye? F him!” In response, Ye tweeted, “I’ve always said SNL uses black people to hold other black people back. My heart goes out to Issa Rae I’m praying for her and her family. I know that the twenty years of service that I’ve paid in the entertainment field has furthered our ability to be more successful.”
Almost instantly, Saturday Night Live viewers began pointing out the hypocrisy and inconsistency of West stating he always knew SNL was harmful to African-Americans but yet he performed on the show six times throughout his career beginning in 2005.
In addition, West was called out for complaining about racial bias while also being a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump, a politician that fuels division with racial dog whistles, institutes discriminatory policies like the Muslim travel ban and child separation at the US-Mexican border, and promotes federal legal action against Black Lives Matter protestors.
After accusing Saturday Night Live of systemic racism, Kanye actually promoted an upcoming episode of the show by retweeting British singer Adele’s announcement that she will be serving as the SNL host on October 24 with H.E.R. as the musical guest. The billionaire and his family have been the butt of many SNL jokes like 2013’s “Waking Up with Kimye: Holiday Show” and 2018’s “Kanye West Donald Trump Cold Open.” As of press time, Issa Rae has not responded to Kanye West’s tweet.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1317819037036941313?s=20
