SNL Skewered R. Kelly's Frenzied Gayle King Interview
During last night's cold open, Saturday Night Live strayed from politics for the first time this season. Instead of skewering the latest from Trumpland, the show tackled the world of entertainment news, enlisting regulars Kenan Thomson and Leslie Jones for a recreation of R. Kelly’s explosive CBS interview with Gayle King. The pivot from politics was well worth it-both writers and performers seemed relieved to be free of the task of reviving old Trump jokes, making for one of the most unforced and honestly funny sketches of the season.
"Thank you for being here Robert," Jones began the interview.
"Thank you for having me," Thompson replied, "and please, just call me ‘Victim.’"
As Kelly, Thompson acknowledged that giving an interview in the midst of his legal battle was probably not the best idea. "My lawyer was telling me 'No,'" he said. "But my ego, my ego was telling me 'Yes.'"
Between the spoken segments of the interview, Thompson broke into song, offering analysis to the tune of Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet."
"It’s 10 o’clock in the morning and I’m talking to Oprah’s friend," he sang. "If I can just get through this, everybody’s gonna love me again."
Kelly is reportedly illiterate, and his former lawyer recently described him as "not a very bright person" in an interview with The Chicago Sun-Times. SNL deployed this alleged lack of intelligence as joke fodder throughout the skit, which would feel pretty cruel were it not for the fact that the singer is a repeatedly-accused child rapist whose same former lawyer also called him "guilty as hell."
In one exchange, Thompson insisted that he’s broke and Jones pushed back by reminding him that R. Kelly sold "millions of records and made millions of dollars."
"More than millions," replied Thompson. "Thousands!"
"Just tell me why all those women would say the same things about you if they weren’t true?" Jones later asked.
"You can start a rumor about any celebrity, just like that," Thompson replied. "All you’ve gotta do is push a button on your phone, and say, 'R. Kelly did this to me.' And then attach a video of me doing that thing, and people will believe you! It’s scary."
SNL couldn’t have made it through the open without recreating the fraught moments in which Kelly stood over King, bellowing. Thompson is one of SNL's greats, but is not the show's best impressionist. He couldn't match Kelly's bellicosity, but did deliver this gem:
OK guys, think for a minute-use your brains. Why would I do these things? For 30 years I gave you all ‘Trapped in the Closet,’ ‘Feelin’ on Yo’ Booty,’ ‘Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number,' and so many other clues!
"30 years!" he concluded, "Man, that’s almost a decade."
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