Vanessa Williams' Christmas Performance Goes Wrong on 'The Amber Ruffin Show'

Vanessa Williams is stuck with a budget Christmas performance during an appearance on Peacock's The Amber Ruffin Show. Thankfully, for the "Save The Best For Last" singer, the entire segment was planned. "So we had originally planned to have a Christmas carol blowout where we sing, like, every song you know and love, but turns out the rights to those songs are really expensive and here at The Amber Ruffin Show, we're on a tight budget," Ruffin begins her introduction."We thought we were gonna have to scrap the whole thing, but then we found one song that is totally free to use," she continues. "So, here's a segment called, "A Christmas Song We Can Afford," starring actor, singer, and American icon, Vanessa Williams!"

As the crowd cheers, the camera cuts to Williams on stage, softly lit in a sparkling red dress as she croons, "Silent Night." "Suddenly, at the end of the first verse, she exclaims, "Please welcome The Amber Ruffin Show gospel choir! "No, no, no, sorry," Ruffin interjects, "We could not afford them. "Wait, you cut the gospel choir?" Williams asks incredulously. "We did. We did cut the gospel choir, but you're doing great. So keep going!" Ruffin says. Williams then proceeds with the second verse of this song, this time ending it with, "And now, please welcome "The Amber Ruffin Show" dancers! "No, no," Ruffin says again. "Absolutely not. They went home. "You sent them home?" Williams asks."We had to! We couldn't afford them for the whole episode," Ruffin replies.

"I wish you told me. I would've brought my own," Williams says. "You have your own dancers? "Uh, c'mon. I'm Vanessa Williams. "Good point," Ruffin remarks. The late-night host tells Williams to keep going, and the actress is starting to look a little miffed. She stops mid-song to suggest adding a little "pizazz" to the performance. "Girl, we cannot afford pizazz," Ruffin says, exasperated. "Just sing the damn song!" A couple of lines later, Williams tries again, calling for the show to "Release the doves! "There are no doves. Any bird you see in here got here by accident," deadpans Ruffin. Shortly after, the singer asks, "Everyone look under your seats for a surprise!" Ruffin hurriedly denies this to the crowd. 

The camera then cuts to a man in the audience holding an unwrapped peppermint candy. "My chair had a piece of candy under it!" "Don't eat that! That is trash." Ruffin shouts. The man slowly spits out the candy as the crowd laughs. At this point, Williams appears to be struggling to hold it together and stops singing. "At least I'm getting paid for this."Uh, about that..." Ruffin starts. "I am not getting paid?" asks Williams. Ruffin promises to take the former Miss America to lunch. "Okay, it better be good. "But can we put it on your card, and I'll Venmo you later?" Williams sighs. "I have to get a new agent." She finally ends the song with a "Merry Christmas, everyone!" as Ruffin sheepishly grabs her microphone and says, "Sorry. This is a rental. I gotta get it back by 11:00. Vanessa Williams, everybody!"