‘SNL’ Host Seth Meyers Dishes on Run-Ins With Donald Trump, Kanye West in Opening Monologue

Kanye West and Donald Trump’s White House meeting was the premier topic of discussion on the latest Saturday Night Live episode. In honor of the two making headlines, host Seth Meyers took a second dish on his experiences with them while he was an SNL cast member.

Meyers was employed at the NBC sketch comedy series from 2001 to 2014, meaning we has around for several of the pair’s separate appearances throughout the years. He first reminisced on when Trump hosted in 2004 and played a role alongside a young Meyers.

“This place makes memories flood back,” Meyers said in his opening monologue. “For example, the cold open was about Donald Trump and Kanye West. I was here when Donald Trump hosted in 2004. He played my father in a sketch.”

He then showed off a photo of the skit, showing he and the now-POTUS on a couch. However, it is not the Late Night host’s proudest moment.

“Most people who have pictures of themselves with presidents get them framed. I did not,” he said.

He then moved onto Kanye West. Meyers said he is a “huge” fan of the “I Love It” rapper and applauded his numerous SNL performances. However, he said he was not surprised by West’s support for Trump due to an experience he had with him will at SNL.

“A lot of people are surprised Kanye supports Donald Trump, but I am not because I have met Kanye, and I am incapable of being surprised by him,” Meyers said. “One time, he was the musical guest, but he heard he wanted to do a sketch. So we pitched him a sketch where he would interrupt different award show speeches saying they had made a mistake and he should have won.”

He continued, “And Kanye said, ‘That’s hilarious because I do that,’ which is good self-awareness.”

The skit was then aired with West interrupting the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, the Nobel Prize ceremony and a state fair’s pumpkin ribbon ceremony. While things went according to plan, Meyers then threw a curveball to viewers about the time period this story takes place in.

“Here’s the reason I will never be surprised by Kanye West: That skit was in 2007, and he interrupted Taylor Swift in 2009,” Meyers revealed. “That whole time I was telling you that story, you thought it was based on him interrupting Taylor Swift. That hadn’t happened yet. Kanye did a sketch about how crazy it was he interrupted speeches then two years later he was at an awards show and thought, ‘I should do it again.’”

He concluded, “So when people say ‘Are you surprised Kanye supports Trump?,’ I say ‘No.’”

Meyers is recounting the true story of West’s 2007 appearance on the show, which was hosted by Lebron James and saw West perform songs from his Graduation album. In all, West has performed on Saturday Night Live 8 times, including a slot at the show’s 40th anniversary special.

West’s most recent appearance ended in controversy when he continued on a pro-Trump rant long after the cameras stopped rolling.

Saturday Night Live airs weekly at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo Credit: NBC / Will Heath