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Kenan Thompson Jokes That Kanye West Held ‘Saturday Night Live’ Castmates ‘Hostage’ During Political Rant

Kenan Thompson: Kanye West Held ‘SNL’ Cast ‘Hostage’
Kenan Thompson during an interview with host Seth Meyers on October 1, 2018.Lloyd Bishop/NBC

Spilling the inside scoop. Kenan Thompson revealed what went down during Kanye West’s politically charged rant on Saturday Night Live when he dropped by Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday, October 1.

Related: Kanye West’s Most Outrageous Moments

Kenan Thompson: Kanye West Held ‘SNL’ Cast ‘Hostage’
Kenan Thompson during an interview with host Seth Meyers on October 1, 2018. Lloyd Bishop/NBC

“He voiced his opinion very loudly for a long time,” Thompson, 40, told the 44-year-old talk show host after referring to West’s time on the show as a “circus.”

He then recalled how the 41-year-old rapper called his SNL castmembers to join him onstage. “We’re all entitled to our own opinion — I don’t know if that’s the moment, necessarily, to hold people hostage like that,” he said. “But hey, you know.”

Related: Celebrities’ Political Affiliations

Thompson, for his part, was able to avoid being pulled into the uncomfortable situation.

“As soon as he said, ‘Hey, join me up onstage everybody!’ I was like, ‘Oh, there goes the little cheese in the mousetrap! It’s going down!’” the Good Burger star explained. “I felt so bad for those guys, because 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.”

Related: Celebs Fight Back on Social Media

West — who has been vocal about his political views and support for Donald Trump — wore a Make America Great hat during the closing credits of the show’s season 44 premiere.

“They bullied me backstage. They said, ‘Don’t go out there with that hat on.’ They bullied me and then they said I’m in the sunken place!” West began his lengthy rant on Saturday Night. “I think the universe has balance. 90 percent of news are liberal. 90 percent of TV, L.A., New York, writers, rappers, musicians, so it’s easy to make it seem like it’s so, so, so one-sided.”

He continued: “The blacks want always Democrats, you know, it’s like the plan they did, to take the fathers out of the home and promote welfare. Does anybody know about that? That’s a Democratic plan.”

The Yeezy founder concluded his speech with a plug about Trump, 72. “There’s so many times when I talk to, like, a white person about this and they say, ‘How could you like Trump? He’s racist,’” he said. “Well, if I was concerned about racism, I would’ve moved out of America a long time ago.”

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