Kanye West Got the 'SNL' Premiere Slot After Ariana Grande Bowed Out

In a new interview, 'SNL' creator Lorne Michaels explains that Grande nixed her performance early for "emotional reasons," so Kanye stepped in.

Kanye West takes to the tinySaturday Night Live stage tomorrow to perform new music, presumably from Yandhi, during the show’s 44th season premiere. But according series creator Lorne Michaels, Ye wasn’t SNL’s first pick.

In a new podcast interview with James Andrew Miller, as Stereogum points out, Michaels explains the crew picked up Kanye after Ariana Grande dropped out of the premiere performance slot earlier this month. “We had Ariana drop out for emotional reasons two days ago,” he says, meaning this conversation was likely recorded before they announced Ye’s performance on Sept. 17. “That’s our premiere, and then Kanye stepped up, and he’ll be there.”

Listen to him make that comment at the 52:26 mark in the episode below.

It’s no secret Grande is continuing to recover from the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller, who died on Sept. 7. Fans of the pop star have been worried as the singer tweets mildly concerning sentiments like the following:

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

It’s probably for the best that Grande decided to sit this one out. Her boyfriend and SNL cast member Pete Davidson went on Late Night with Seth Meyers Thursday to dish on the new season. He praised the show’s upcoming host Adam Driver aka Kylo Ren aka the white cop from BlacKkKlansman. “He’s like very calm and like an adult and respectful,” he said of Driver. “He’s like a marine.”

Davidson also told Meyers he “heard some pretty wild things” about Kanye’s impending performance. For those still riding for Ye, they only have to wait a little longer to see what wild stuff might be in store. Given his recent stunts, it’s not too difficult to imagine.

Latest in Music