Latest soap opera spoilers, news and exclusive updates for The Young and The Restless, Days of Our Lives, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful.

Damon Wayans Reveals Why He Purposely Got Fired From SNL

Damon Wayans Reveals Why He Purposely Got Fired From SNLRecently, comedy legend Damon Wayans talked about his brief and contentious appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) in Season 11 of 1985.

Wayans discussed the reasons behind his intentional acts that resulted in his termination from the renowned sketch comedy show in an interview with the Peacock documentary SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.

Wayans Explains His Exit From SNL

Wayans, who had limited on-screen experience apart from a small role in Beverly Hills Cop, said he felt destined to be on SNL.

“I was born to be on Saturday Night Live,” he stated, adding that he had been preparing characters well before his audition. While working on Beverly Hills Cop, Eddie Murphy, a former SNL cast member, offered him a piece of advice that proved prophetic: “Write your own sketches. Otherwise, they’re gonna give you some Black people shit to do, and you ain’t gonna like it.”

Wayans followed Murphy’s advice and pitched his own ideas to the SNL writers. However, he often faced rejection. “They would shoot my ideas down,” he recalled.

“Everything Eddie said came true. They started writing me in their sketches.” These roles, however, often leaned into offensive or stereotypical portrayals, which Wayans found unacceptable. “I’m like, ‘Hell no.’ I said, ‘Listen, my mother’s gonna watch this show. I can’t do this. I won’t do this,’” he recounted.

The breaking point came during a sketch titled “Mr. Monopoly,” in which Wayans and co-star Randy Quaid played police officers. The sketch replaced one of Wayans’ own ideas that had been cut for time.

During rehearsal, Wayans performed the role as written, but when the live show aired, he went off-script, portraying the character as an effeminate gay stereotype.

The Fallout

Guest host Griffin Dunne described the moment as “weird,” though it still elicited laughs from the audience. However, Wayans’ deviation violated SNL’s cardinal rule of no surprises.

“You cannot go rogue. You cannot try to steal a sketch,” explained James Andrew Miller, author of Live From New York. Former SNL writer A. Whitney Brown echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of sticking to the script.

Wayans later admitted his actions were intentional. “I snapped. I just did not care,” he confessed. “I purposefully did that because I wanted him [SNL creator Lorne Michaels] to fire me.” Michaels, who rarely fired cast members, said in an old interview clip, “It was really, really hard. But it had to be done.”

Life After SNL

Despite the firing, Wayans’ career flourished. He returned to perform stand-up during SNL’s Season 11 finale and hosted the show nine years later in 1995.

More importantly, the experience pushed him to create his own groundbreaking sketch comedy series, In Living Color, which ran from 1990 to 1994.

Many of the characters he had originally pitched for SNL found a home on In Living Color, helping to redefine comedy and amplify diverse voices.

Reflecting on his relationship with Michaels, Wayans expressed gratitude. “Lorne is a very forgiving man, and I think he just wanted to let me know that he believed in me,” he said. There seems to be no lingering animosity between Wayans and SNL, with the comedian acknowledging that his bold decision to defy the system ultimately set him on a better path.

Be sure to catch up on everything happening on Saturday Night Live (SNL) right now. Come back here often for all Saturday Night Live (SNL) spoilers, news, and updates.

Editorial credit: DFree / Shutterstock.com

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.