It’s been a few weeks since Kanye West freaked out backstage before his set on Saturday Night Live and nearly did not perform on the NBC series. Doubtless, the music artist has had time to calm down in the interim. Despite the fact that Kanye had some wild things to say about himself—and reportedly the cast and crew of the late night show—producer Lorne Michaels is in no hurry to burn any bridges. This week, Lorne Michaels revealed exactly how he feels about Kanye West’s epic meltdown. Here’s what he had to say:
That happened in his dressing room. Kanye's been on the show a lot of years, and it's always different. He's an artist, you know? A great artist.
Obviously, either Michaels is used to the talent being really wonky or he understands Kanye’s freak out was just Kanye being Kanye. Although Kanye West really did have a moment backstage—leaked footage had him screaming about being as great as Apostle Paul and Stanley Kubrick—he did eventually calm down enough to perform "Low Lights," "Highlights" and "Ultralight Beams," so he made good on his obligations to the long-running late night series.
If you haven’t heard the leaked footage, you can check it out, below.
It also wasn’t the first time that Kanye West has been a part of SNL. He was actually the musical guest on like 5 other episodes prior to his recent appearance, so it’s not like he’s a newbie on the late night sketch series. Plus, he also appeared in the SNL 40 special, so he’s done a lot for the show. If he was a model guest all of those other times he’s been on the series, having one freak out probably won’t affect his long-term prospects with the series.
In fact, Lorne Michaels' comments to E! also seem to indicate that Kanye West is welcome to Saturday Night Live any time.
When he did the 40th anniversary show—which I wanted him to be part of it—I had no idea what he was going to do, even 10 minutes before we went on the air. He arrived that day. But he just always delivers, and he's Kanye.
So, rants or no rants, clearly Lorne Michaels is a fan. Thus, I’d expect we’ll be hearing about Kanye West popping up on the show again, sooner or later. Next time, hopefully he’ll be on his best behavior.
New episodes of Saturday Night Live hit the schedule most weekends at 11:30 p.m. ET, only on NBC.
