Do you know how out of line you have to be for Saturday Night Live to say you’ve gone too far!? They had Trump host for goodness sake! That is the small club Kanye West finds himself in as rumors swirled all weekend that the Grammy Award-winning artist was banned from the sketch comedy series. According to Radar Online, SNL decided to ban Kanye from appearing, and also won’t mention him in jokes, due to his repeated threats against cast member Pete Davidson, who is currently dating West’s ex-wife, Kim Kardashian.
“Kanye has been banned from the show. Usually, SNL loves controversy and isn’t afraid to tackle any story in the news head-on, however, you will not see Kanye on the show or hear his name mentioned again,” sources told Radar. “It is obvious that Kanye needs help and making threats against a cast member is not a laughing matter.”
Davidson is reportedly one of SNL boss Lorne Michaels’ favorites, so it makes sense he would want to protect him. Radar went on to report, “Officially the show doesn’t have a list of banned celebrities, however, behind-the-scenes everyone knows it exists. There are certain people that were just so awful that they will never be invited back and other people like Kanye who were great TV but just not worth the drama.”
However, Us Weekly is now reporting that the rapper isn’t banned from the show just yet. SNL’s unofficial banned list is something that’s been rumored for a long time, so even if sources are confirming to Us Weekly that he isn’t on a specific list, he probably won’t be on the show anytime soon.
Personally, I’m exhausted with Kanye, and his latest antics have grown increasingly troubling as they escalate from upset ex to angry stalker. As we previously reported at The Root, West has continually harassed Kardashian and Davidson on social media. In addition to offering Pete’s co-star Michael Che double his salary to leave SNL and stop working with Davidson, the G.O.O.D Music founder has also threatened to “beat Pete Davidson’s ass” on “Easy,” his track with The Game, and has filed paperwork asking a judge to block Kim’s request for a divorce.
The rapper’s escalating and troubling behavior has led to accusations of harassment and concerns from Kardashian about how dangerous this situation is for Davidson, with her reportedly telling Kanye someone will hurt Pete.
It’s easy to write all this off as Kanye being Kanye, but with a platform and fanbase as large as his, this behavior is alarming on so many levels and needs to be called out by everyone. If his being banned from appearing on SNL is one consequence of his actions, hopefully, other entertainment institutions follow suit and stop rewarding his attention-seeking and harassment.