Pete Davidson Slams Kanye West for Hijacking SNL Stage With Pro-Trump Rant: 'Being Mentally Ill Is Not an Excuse to Act Like a Jackass'
Kanye West‘s bizarre pro-Trump rant following last week’s Saturday Night Live premiere did not go over well with cast member Pete Davidson. On Saturday’s show, Davidson — appearing at the end of Weekend Update — slammed West for hijacking the SNL stage.
“What Kanye said after we went off the air last week was one of the worst, most awkward things I have ever seen here,” he said, before cracking, “and I’ve seen Chevy Chase speak to an intern. And we all had to stand behind him.”
Quick refresher: Last weekend, after finishing his third performance (at which point the episode had already ended), West began pontificating about the “liberal media” attacking Trump and his own rumored 2020 presidential bid. This resulted in boos from the audience, as the SNL cast stood off to the side of the stage and kept their heads down. The impromptu speech was captured in part by comedian Chris Rock, who can be heard saying “Oh my God!” as West continued to defend Trump.
Davidson also disputed West’s charge that SNL staffers pressured him not to wear a pro-Trump hat. “Kanye was wearing a ‘MAGA hat,” Davidson noted. “And he started by saying people backstage tried to bully him into not wearing it. He wore it all week. Nobody told him not to wear it.”
Davidson conceded that West “is a genius — but a musical genius,” before urging him to seek out to go back on medication. “Take ’em. There’s no shame in the medicine game. I’m on them. Being mentally ill is not an excuse to act like a jackass.”
Watch video of Davidson’s anti-Kanye segment above, then click here for our complete recap of the episode.
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