It was almost impossible that this weekend's "Saturday Night Live" would pass without mention of Kanye West's onstage rant after last week's broadcast ended, and Pete Davidson took on the task at the end of the "Weekend Update" comic news segment.
In it, he encouraged West to take his meds -- Davidson admitted that he's on medication as well -- and capped off the segment by donning a "Make Kanye 2006 Again" hat.
The entire segment was delivered in a cheerful but not-really-kidding tone.
After the credits rolled last week, West delivered a politically themed speech to the audience in which he discussed his support for President Trump, his pledge to run for president in 2020 and an array of other topics. "So many times I talk to a white person and [they] say, 'How could you like Trump, he's racist?' Well, if I was concerned about racism I would've moved out of America a long time ago," he said. He then rambled from topic to topic as the cast looked on, seemingly embarrassed.
Tonight, Davidson began by saying there was some discussion over whether he or the show's Michael Che, who is black, should do the bit. But "Che is black and I'm crazy, and we both know which side of Kanye is at the wheel right now."
He called West's speech "one of the worst, most awkward things I've ever seen here. We all had to stand behind him," he continued as video of the speech played, "I'm on the left [his head is down in the video], and then I'm like, 'I want a career,' so I leave" the stage.
He also addressed West's claim that an unnamed "they" -- whom he later said was not the "SNL" staff -- tried to "bully" him from wearing the hat. "So Kanye was wearing a 'MAGA' hat, and he started by saying people backstage tried to bully him into wearing it," Davidson said. "He wore it all week. Nobody told him not to wear it -- I wish I would have suggested that it might upset some people, like your wife, or, like, every black person, ever."
"Kanye is a genius," he continued, "but a musical genius, like Joey Chestnut is a hot-dog eating genius. I don't want to hear Joey Chestnut's opinions about things that aren't hot dog related!"
Davidson wound down his segment by asking West to resume taking his medication. "Kanye, I know you're like, 'Yo, this is the real me, I'm off the meds'," which West has said on at least two occasions. "Take 'em! There's no shame in the medicine game! I'm on 'em -- take 'em! if I ever got on a plane and the pilot said, 'I just want you all to know this is the real me flying,'" I'd jump out!
"Being mentally ill is not an excuse to act like a jackass," he concluded. "Seriously: one time I stopped taking my meds, and I bit my mom. But it's all good because I bought her a house."
He finished by donning the "Make Kanye 2006 Again" hat while he and Che asked West to release the "Yandhi"album, which has been rescheduled for a November release.
© 2024 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.