Congratulations are in order for Saturday Night Live star and longtime comedian Kenan Thompson as it was recently revealed his name will be the latest addition on the Hollywood Walk of Fame soon.
Per the official press release, the forthcoming ceremony will take place Aug. 11 and will be emceed by Chair of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Lupita Sanchez Cornejo. Featured guest speakers for the event will also include JB Smoove, Leslie Jones and Josh Server. Thompson will receive the star in the television category and will be reportedly placed next SNL creator Lorne Michaels star as well.
“Kenan Thompson is the voice of a generation” said Ana Martinez, Producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “From Kenan and Kel to Saturday Night Live, Kenan has been making folks laugh for nearly 30 years. In celebration of his upcoming 20th anniversary on SNL, we thought it would be fitting to place Kenan’s star next to the star of the man who gave him his job, Lorne Michaels.”
Speaking of the long-running series, Thompson recently spoke on the show’s 50th anniversary—a feat they’ll achieve in just three more seasons—on Comedy Central’s Hell of a Week with Charlamagne tha God. When asked about rumors that show might go off the air for good once it reaches that marker, Thompson quipped: “Is that the rumor? Well I need to start planning. That’s gonna cause some changes.”
He later explained:
There could be a lot of validity to that rumor because 50 is a good number to stop at. It’s an incredible package. He’s [Lorne Michaels] the one that’s had his touch on the whole thing, so if somebody tries to come into his shoes—it’s a good opportunity for NBC to save money as well. So maybe they might slash the budget and then at that point, you can’t really do the same kind of show.
After clarifying that he doesn’t think the show could not continue on without Michaels, he concluded: “It opens opportunity for a lot of bullshit to come into the game. He’s such a legend that he keeps off those, like, corporate wolves, if you will. Not to call them wolves, but it’s business. They spend a lot of money on that show every week. It’s an expensive show. But it’s a one-of-a-kind thing, it’s the only one.”
You can watch Kenan Thompson receive his star at 2:30p.m. ET on Aug. 11 via livestream by visiting walkoffame.com