Still live on Saturday Nights. Kanye West has not been banned from Saturday Night Live amid his ongoing drama with Pete Davidson, Us Weekly confirms.
The Yeezy designer, 44, slammed Davidson, 28, shortly after the comedian’s return to Instagram on Thursday, February 17, writing, “HI SKETE YOU GOT ANYMORE MENTAL HEALTH JOKES FOR ME?” Alongside his shady caption, West included a screenshot from an October 2018 episode of SNL where Davidson spoke about the rapper’s mental health struggles.
“You know how wrong about politics you have to be for, like, me to notice?” the King of Staten Island star said on “Weekend Update” at the time, referencing West’s pro-Donald Trump remarks during his musical performance one week earlier. “You know how annoying that is? Like, Kanye is a genius but, like, a musical genius. … Kanye, I know you’re like ‘Yo, this is the real me, I’m off the meds,’ but take [them]. There’s no shade in the medicine game.”
Wearing a “Make Kanye 2006 Again” hat at the time, Davidson, who has been candid about his own mental health struggles, continued: “Being mentally ill is not an excuse to act like a jackass. I’m quoting my therapist, my mom, and my mailman.”
After she filed for divorce from West in February 2021, Kim Kardashian began dating the Big Time Adolescence actor following her Saturday Night Live hosting debut in October 2021. During her opening monologue, the Skims founder, 41, joked about her split from West, which upset him.
“SNL making my wife say ‘I divorced him’ on TV because they just wanted to get that bar off, and I never have seen the papers. We’re not even divorced,” the “Ultralight Beam” performer said during a November 2021 appearance on Revolt’s “Drink Champs” podcast. “So how we — because [it’s] no joke to me, my kids want their parents to stay together. I want their parents — I want us to be together.”
Two months later, West brought up Kardashian’s SNL appearance once more, claiming that she was trying to “antagonize” him by kissing Davidson during one sketch. “How you gonna bring me to SNL and then kiss the dude you dating right in front of me?” The “Flashing Lights” rapper said during a January interview with Hollywood Unlocked.
Davidson isn’t the only SNL cast member that West has publicly attacked amid his ongoing divorce drama. On Sunday, February 13, the producer offered to pay “Weekend Update” cohost Michael Che to leave the variety show and stop working with Davidson. “@chethinks I’LL DOUBLE WHATEVER THEY PAYING YOU JUST SO YOU DONT HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT PAWN EVER AGAIN BIG LOVE,” the “Stronger” rapper wrote on Instagram.
The Michael Che: Shame the Devil star, 38, turned down the offer in a since-deleted social media post of his own. “Sorry Ye, but I would never betray my friends,” Che wrote at the time, before joking “for anything less than TRIPLE salary. That’s right, $90k per year!” The New York native continued by asking West to provide benefits, paid time off and a corner office.
He added: “Plus, a pair of Red Octobers. Size 12. And you gotta make some beats for my band, The Slap Butts. And you gotta tell me what you’re gonna wear to work the night before so we can look like twins. You do that for me, and I’ll Rambo that whole building.”