Kanye’s rant becomes subject of SNL roast
October 19, 2018
After Kanye West’s pro-Trump speech on the season 44 premiere of “Saturday Night Live,” cast members have come forward to speak about their opinions regarding West’s behavior as well as their own political views.
Kanye came out to close the Sept. 29 show in a “Make America Great Again” hat, making multiple political statements that had cast members rolling their eyes in the background. The network cut West off in the middle of his speech, but Chris Rock, who attended the taping of SNL that night, recorded the speech on his Instagram.
“If I was concerned about racism, I would have moved out of America a long time ago,” West said. “We don’t just make our decisions off of racism. I’ma break it down to you right now: If someone inspires me and I connect with them, I don’t have to believe in all they policies.”
In the days following the video’s publicity, “Saturday Night Live” cast members such as Pete Davidson and Kenan Thompson have come forward to discuss West’s speech and their personal political beliefs. On a “Late Night with Seth Meyers” appearance on Oct. 1, Kenan Thompson talked about the rant and his feelings on West taking advantage of the cast members at the end of the show by using the show’s platform to promote his political views.
“It’s hard to stand there and not be able to debate somebody who’s going so far against your personal opinion as well, and just stand there and take it” Thompson said, referring to the cast members that West called up on stage with him during his speech.
Kanye West has continued to be the center of attention in the following weeks’ episodes of SNL. During the “Weekend Update” segment of the Oct. 6 episode, Pete Davidson sporting a “Make Kanye 2006 Again,” hat, asked the audience, “Do you know how wrong you have to be about politics for me to notice?”
Since the season premiere, the “Saturday Night Live” writers have continued to mock West for his actions both on their own show, as well as his actions out in public. This past weekend, the cast poked fun at the Oval Office meeting between President Trump, Kanye West, and ex-NFL player Jim Brown. SNL is famous for poking fun at people in the public eye, and Kanye West’s political actions are no different.
