Damon Wayans on Why He “Purposefully” Got Himself Fired From ‘SNL’: “I Snapped”

by

Damon Wayans is discussing openly why he intentionally left his role on Saturday Night Live, a position he held briefly during the ’80s.

In the Peacock documentary series titled “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night“, the actor and comedian reminisced about his time and departure from the sketch comedy series. He was a member of the cast during SNL‘s season 11, which aired in 1985.

The comedian shared memories of his tenure on the show and his exit in the Peacock docuseries “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night“. He was part of the SNL cast during season 11, which took place in 1985.)

Wayans shared that he had been developing characters prior to his audition, as he strongly believed he was destined for “Saturday Night Live“. He also mentioned receiving some guidance from Eddie Murphy (who starred on SNL in the early ’80s) during their collaboration on “Beverly Hills Cop” in 1984.

Eddie advised me, “Create your own scripts, or you might end up being assigned roles that aren’t appealing, which you won’t enjoy,” as Wayans put it.

After landing the role, Wayans found that almost everything Eddie had predicted would happen, proved true. He reminisced about attempting to propose characters and skits to the SNL writers, but they consistently dismissed his suggestions. He further mentioned that eventually, they began incorporating him into their own skits.

Wayans stated that they occasionally offered him stereotypical or offensive characters, but he stood up for himself on occasion: “I’d say, ‘Absolutely not.’ I told them, ‘Look, my mom is going to watch this show. I can’t do this. I won’t do this.’

However, the tensions peaked for Wayans when they decided to air a sketch called “Mr. Monopoly,” instead of one of his own sketches that got axed due to time constraints yet again.

It was at this point that he chose to adopt a new stereotype during the live performance, a decision he made at the very last moment. Regrettably, this move led to his termination.

According to Jon Lovitz, a former writer and cast member of SNL, Damon delivered his lines in a manner that strongly resembled an overtly effeminate gay man. Griffin Dunne, who was hosting the episode, found it peculiar, but the audience still chuckled. Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, subsequently dismissed Damon shortly after he left the stage.

As a passionate admirer, I’d rephrase it this way: “In a moment of uncontrollable frustration, I lost my cool. The truth is, I didn’t care about the consequences. I intentionally acted out because I wanted Lorne Michaels, the genius behind SNL, to let me go.

In a past interview excerpt shown in the documentary series, Michaels shared, “Going without dismissing anyone during my initial five years was incredibly challenging. However, it was necessary.

Wayans allegedly “violated the fundamental SNL rule, which is no unforeseen actions,” as stated by James Andrew Miller in his book Live From New York. Previous writer A. Whitney Brown further commented, “One can’t act independently. One cannot attempt to seize a sketch.

Following his time with the NBC comedy variety series, the comedian achieved fame in various film comedies like “Mo’ Money” and “Major Payne,” to name a few. Later on, he took on roles for the sketch show “In Living Color,” which aired from 1990-94.

Wayans returned to host SNL in 1995, nine years after he was fired.

Read More

2025-01-18 04:25