Samuel L. Jackson is a pop culture icon, having been a fixture within the realm of cinema and television for about five decades. It seems like there’s nothing he hasn’t done at this point, as he’s headlined major franchises and become the recipient of an honorary Oscar. On TV, he also hosted a 1998 episode of Saturday Night Live (which can be streamed with a Peacock Premium subscription), though he hasn’t appeared on the show in about a decade. This was rumored to be due to a ban stemming from an f-bomb he dropped on air. Now, Jackson has revealed that he’s spoken to series creator Lorne Michaels about the purported ban.
The situation occurred in 2012 when the Marvel veteran appeared as a celebrity on one of the popular What’s Up With That? sketches. During the skit, which sees Kenan Thompson’s Diondre Cole interrupting his A-list guest stars, Samuel L. Jackson was meant to drop an f-bomb, only to be cut off by Thompson. However, the SNL veteran didn’t chime in, and Jackson let the expletive fly.
Since then, the rumors have circulated and alleged that the Pulp Fiction icon was not allowed on the iconic stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The actor was asked about the situation by EW and provided a major update. As he put it, he crossed paths with Lorne Michaels while in New York recently, and the veteran producer gave him some good news:
I was in New York, I don’t know, a few weeks ago doing some [The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey] press before it was happening, and I was getting on the elevator and Lorne was getting off. … We all had masks on, so he didn't know who I was, but I knew who he was. I said, ‘So are you ever going to let me back on the show?’ He was like, ‘Who?’ And I pulled my mask down and said, ‘It’s me.’ And he was like, ‘You’re not banned!’ I was like, ‘Yes, I am!’ ‘No, you’re not!’ So maybe I’m not, I don’t know.
It seems to me that Lorne Michaels would be happy to have Samuel L. Jackson back on the show in some capacity. And who can blame him? The 73-year-old actor brings a massive amount of energy to anything he does, and he’s just downright funny. (Plus, other people have dropped f-bombs on SNL since.) Check out Jackson’s 2012 appearance on What’s Up With That? down below:
Anyone who’s familiar with the actor’s work knows that he’s dropped plenty of curse words in his time. The trailer for The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard last year alone gave him plenty of swear words. The star has used so much salty language that he was actually surprised to learn that two other A-listers beat him in cursing records in movies. While those numbers still stand (as of right now), I think most would agree that no one can deliver an f-bomb like he can.
Considering that the current season of SNL is coming to an end this Saturday, it doesn’t appear that Samuel L. Jackson will get to host before things close out. There’s always next season, though, and I’d certainly be game to see him take the hosting reins for a future episode. And I wouldn’t be too mad if he “accidentally” dropped another f-bomb while doing so.
Saturday Night Live’s season finale, which features Natasha Lyonne as host and Japanese Breakfast as musical guest, airs May 21 at 11:30 p.m. ET. Check out CinemaBlend’s 2022 TV schedule for more on shows that are premiering and returning this year.
