Chris Rock, Megan Thee Stallion to join forces for ‘SNL’ premiere
Chris Rock will host and Megan is the musical guest for SNL's 46th season
When the now-iconic TV sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live starts its 46th season on Oct. 3, it will do so with the help of two of entertainment’s biggest talents – comedian and former SNL member Chris Rock and Houston-born rapper Megan Thee Stallion.
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Rock will be hosting the show for the third time after being a part of the show’s ensemble cast from 1990-1993. According to Uproxx, while the show gave Rock his first real national exposure after a role in Beverly Hills Cop II, the comedian was ultimately fired from the show. Rock had already signed on to the classic Keenen Ivory Wayans sketch show In Living Color because he thought SNL was behind the times and he wanted to do more than what he could then do on SNL.
“This sh– is getting hip. This sh– is getting blacker. This sh– is getting f—g rappier. SNL is still a pretty white show. When I got hired I was the first black guy in like eight years— and In Living Color was just hip. The s– was hot. I wanted to be in an environment where I didn’t have to translate the comedy I wanted to do.”
As it turns out, Rock, 55, was right about the comedy environment, which he helped shape through his now three-decade career. But he was wrong about the timing of In Living Color as the show was canceled the month after he arrived. However, it set off a number of hugely successful careers – including multiple Wayans brothers, Jim Carrey, David Alan Grier, Jamie Foxx, Tommy Davidson, Jennifer Lopez, and yes, Rock.
Carrey is set to play Joe Biden on SNL this season.
It will be Megan’s first time on SNL, representing a huge moment for her. The “Savage” rapper was recently named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People which makes their choices based on those who are “harnessing the power of influence to forge genuine progress.”
Actress Taraji P. Henson endorsed the 25-year-old rapper, writing in the issue: “I don’t like to put the stigma of the word strong on Black women because I think it dehumanizes us, but she has strength — strength through vulnerability.”
As theGrio reported, Megan has alleged that in July, she was shot by Canadian rapper Tory Lanez after the two got into an altercation after attending a party at Kylie Jenner‘s house. Lanez was arrested on weapons charges, but not much else has transpired with the case since despite the seriousness of the allegations.
Though she was injured in both feet and shared graphic photos of the damage done, she said she is lucky to have escaped without major damage and appeared just a month later on the virtual MTV Video Music Awards, picking up a trophy for Best Hip-Hop Video for “Savage.”
“This is my second Moonman — definitely not my last,” Megan said, accepting the award from her virtual location with a bottle of champagne.
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Though they completed last season with virtual broadcasts, SNL plans to tape episodes through Oct. 31 from their longtime home at NBC Studios in Rockefeller Center. They expect to have a “limited” in-studio audience, reports The Wrap.
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