Kenan Thompson takes on Ye in 'SNL' sketch with Mike Myers: 'I'm in the KKK now' (2025)

Saturday Night Live is reigniting a feud with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West — this time in a reunion with show alum Mike Myers, who has his own infamous history with Ye.

In a sketch on Saturday's season 50 finale, hosted byScarlett Johansson, the Austin Powers star plays himself taking an elevator ride. It's all going fine as he makes his assent with a giddy tourist (Johansson), until the doors open and Ye (played by Kenan Thompson) joins them.

"Oh my God, is that Kanye West?" Myers asks, looking slightly concerned. When the tourist gets to her floor, Myers grabs her and insists it's not her stop. "You can't leave me alone in here with him," he pleads as she rushes out.

The musician turns to Myers and recalls how he hasn't seen his fellow occupant "since that Hurricane Katrina benefit. You know, when I told the world that George Bush don't care about Black people on live TV, and you just have to stand there looking stupid."

Myers then asks what the "Gold Digger" singer has been up to in the years since, to which Thompson's Ye casually replies, "Oh, me? I'm in the KKK now."

Ye also brings up the current Sean "Diddy" Combs trial, ironically observing, "You think you know a guy. Turns out to be a fool crazy monster man."

"Yeah, right, so what happened to you?" Myers asks. Ye replies, "What do you mean?" To which a nervous Myers says, "Nothing. Not one thing."

The elevator doors open, but the two people waiting —notably, the show's only other Black cast members, Ego Nwodimand Devon Walker — decline to get in, much to Myers' disappointment.

After the comedian nervously confirms to Ye that he is Protestant, not Jewish, the elevator gets stuck. Myers freaks out saying he gets really claustrophobic. "Oh trust me, I understand," Ye replies, "I'm a few phobics myself."

The reunion in the sketch is a callback to the infamous moment during the Concert for Hurricane Relief telethon in September 2005, in which Myers was paired with the "Stronger" rapper, who went off script to declare "George Bush doesn't care about Black people." The Wayne's World star was left speechless as producers abruptly moved to the next presenter.

Ye made his debut as an SNL musical guest just a month later, on Oct. 1, 2005, and on his way to the stage did a bit in which he reunited with Myers, who confessed to having a rough go of it since the telethon.

The rapper made a splash on SNL with his innovative performances and became a frequent musical guest, appearing on seven episodes. But his relationship with the legendary sketch show— much like his public persona — soured in later years.

The final straw was in 2018, when Ye performed a third song at the end of the season 44 premiere that turned into a lengthy unscripted monologue and pro–Donald Trump rant, all as the cast awkwardly stood behind him ready for the show's goodnights. The rapper, clad in a red "Make America Great Again" hat, claimed that people had bullied him backstage and told him not to wear the hat on the show, before asserting that "Blacks weren't always Democrats."

The following week, Pete Davidson slammed the rapper on "Weekend Update," calling the rant "one of the worst, most awkward things I've ever seen here — and I've seen Chevy Chase speak to an intern."

Thompson and Nwodim addressed the incident in the recent documentaryLadies & Gentlemen…50 Years of SNL Music, recalling how uncomfortable it was for them.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

"When he grabbed the mic and was just wandering around, you could see that he was gearing up to say something. I was like, 'I'm out!'" Thompson explained of exiting the stage. "It would have been cool if he just had did the music thing, and, I don't know, just spoke through the hat, I guess, 'cause the hat wasloud."

The episode was Nwodim's first appearance as a cast member. She recalled trying to keep her face neutral during the remarks, before she made an awkward observation. "Something made me be like, 'Oh, are there other Black people up here in the cast?' And I look, and no, I was the only one," she said of noticing other Black cast members leaving the stage in protest.

Ye has not appeared on the show since that incident, though his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, made her hosting debut in October 2021 —when she sparked a romance with Davidson, who found himself a frequent target for the rapper's online ire.

Watch the full sketch with Thompson and Myers above.