‘SNL’ Parodies Gayle King’s Explosive R. Kelly Interview on Idris Elba Episode

Saturday Night Live parodied one of the most-talked about moments from the past week, when CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King interviewed disgraced singer R. Kelly about the allegations of sexual abuse he faces.

In the parody, Leslie Jones played King and Kenan Thompson played Kelly. At the beginning, King asked Kelly why he did this.

“My lawyer was telling me no, but my ego… my ego was telling me yes,” Kelly said.

As the cold open continued, Kelly began answering questions with the “Trapped In The Closet” music playing behind him.

As for the Lifetime series Surviving R. Kelly, his main complaint was that no one said anything nice about him.

“They made it seem like I was the devil. I’m not the devil. And even if I was, you can’t think about one nice thing to say about the devil?” Kelly said. “I can! Nice haunts. Gives good advice.”

The SNL episode, hosted by Thor actor Idris Elba, aired just hours after the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer was released from prison after spending four days behind bars over unpaid child support. An unidentified person paid Kelly’s ex-wife, Drea Kelly, the $161,633 he owed her.

Kelly was arrested on Wednesday, the day after he sat down for his explosive interview with King to respond to Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly. The interview aired over two parts on CBS This Morning and was later presented Friday night as “The Gayle King Interview with R. Kelly.”

For the past two decades, Kelly has been faced with allegations of sexually abusing underage women and keeping a “sex cult.” Last month, Kelly was arrested on 10 charges of aggravated sexual abuse, in connection with the alleged abuse of four victims over a 12-year period, including at least three minors.

Kelly has long denied the allegations, and did so in the interview with King.

“I have been assassinated. I have been buried alive. But I’m alive,” Kelly told King. “I don’t need to [hold anyone against their will]. Why would I? How stupid would it be for R. Kelly, with all I’ve been through in my way way past, to hold somebody, let alone 4, 5, 6, 50, you said — why — how stupid would I be to do that?!”

As he got up and began yelling, he screamed, “Stop it. You all quit playing! Quit playing! I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I’m fighting for my f—ing life! Y’all killing me with this s—! I gave you 30 years of my f—ing career!”

After a photo of Kelly standing over King went viral, King was asked if she was ever afraid he would strike her. The veteran television host said she was never scared.

“I was not scared. I never thought he was going to hit me,” King told O: The Oprah Magazine. “After, Oprah and my kids Kirby and Will called me to ask if I was okay because it looked scary. But I was never worried he was going to hurt me. I was more worried that he was going to get up and leave.”

She added, “So what I was really thinking to myself was: I’m not done with this interview, so I’m going to let him have his moment. If I stood up even to comfort him, that could have been his invitation to say ‘This is over.’ So I didn’t interrupt his anger and let him have that.”

New episodes of SNL air at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC Saturdays.