Kanye West raps about haters in his hit single “Mercy,” and Saturday Night Live showed the rapper no mercy this weekend.
The Ye jokes flew throughout the show, starting with “a message from Skechers.” The skit mercilessly mocked the hip-hop star for getting the boot when he made an unannounced visit to the retailer’s California headquarters after being dropped by Adidas for anti-Semitic rants.
“Here at Skechers, we pride ourselves on two things — making stylish, comfortable shoes at an affordable price, and having zero tolerance for anti-Semitism,” SNL veteran Cecily Strong said in her role as a Skechers executive.
Related Story: ‘SNL’ Drags Lenny Kravitz Into Kanye West Drama
Bowen Yang noted: “We immediately escorted him out of the building.”
While Cecily pointed out Skechers will “never” work with Ye, she said something good did come out of his failed visit — free publicity.
“Like the rest of the country, we were appalled by Kanye’s horrific comments and we vowed to never work with him in any capacity. But, can we also point out that of all the companies he could have approached and been rejected by — he chose Skechers.”
Punkie Johnson questioned the rapper’s mental state: “Corporate was like, ‘We can’t work with Kanye West. He’s kind of crazy now. I was like now?!”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” the Skechers team said about Ye.
Related Story: Where Was the Outrage When Kanye West Said Slavery Was ‘Choice’?
The SNL comics continued the Kanye punchlines in the “Weekend Update.”
Michael Che admitted when news broke that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband had been attacked, he wondered if there was a Kanye connection.
“Things are definitely getting way out of hand in this country. When I heard that a guy barged into a house with a hammer looking for Nancy Pelosi — my first thought was ‘oh no. Was it Kanye?'” he quipped.
Related Story: Kanye West Wears MAGA Hat on ‘SNL’ – Goes on Trump Rant
Following news that Kanye was dropped by Adidas, The Gap and Balenciaga, Colin Jost called out companies with seemingly no ties to the hip-hop mogul — like Peloton, TJ Maxx and Goodwill — that have been unloading Kanye products.
“Is it just me, or do half the companies that dropped Kanye sound fake? I saw the headline ‘TJ Maxx cuts ties with Kanye.’ I was like, ‘did Kanye know he worked for TJ Maxx?'” Jost said to laughter. “But the craziest one, which is somehow real, was that Goodwill dropped Kanye. They will no longer accept donations of Kanye’s clothing, which is ironic because Kanye’s lost enough money that he might need them.”
Rapper Jack Harlow served as host and musical guest on the episode and performed his singles “Lil Secret,” “First Class” and “State Fair.”
Tom Hanks, SNL alum Bobby Moynihan and Survivor host Jeff Probst made cameo appearances.
Check out Jack Harlow’s opening monologue below:
