Kanye West and SNL have had a love-hate relationship for years.
Recently, Saturday Night Live (SNL) released a documentary celebrating its 50-year anniversary, highlighting some of its most iconic eras and most intense moments—including one involving Kanye West.
In 2016, Kanye stormed off the stage after believing SNL had altered his set without his approval. While his face isn’t visible in the footage, his frustration is clear as you can hear him ranting about his stage being changed without his permission. Lorne Michaels, who was interviewed in the documentary, recalled speaking with Kanye and convincing him that walking away would hurt his image more than it would affect SNL. Eventually, Kanye went through with the performance—though not before declaring that he was “50% more influential than any human being.”
Kanye West Walked Off SNL Stage In 2016
SNL drops a documentary about the 50 years of SNL on peacock & shows Kanye West storming off set for the first time after someone switched up his stage in 2016 pic.twitter.com/F6mPATYZ6v
— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) January 29, 2025
Kanye West has had a turbulent history with SNL. In 2010, he accused the show of mocking him, even changing the lyrics in “Power” to, “F** SNL and the whole cast / Tell ’em Yeezy said they can kiss my whole a**.”* Then, in 2018, he went off script and delivered a pro-Trump speech while wearing a MAGA hat, which sparked major backlash. With BULLY on the way, who knows? We might be in for another Kanye rant soon.
Quincy is the creator of Ratings Game Music. He loves writing about music, taking long walks on beaches, and spaghetti that fights him back.
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