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SNL’s Leslie Jones Confronted Kenan Thompson Over His Diversity Comments

Leslie Jones
Leslie Jones

What up with that, Kenan Thompson? In an interview with The New Yorker, Saturday Night Live‘s Leslie Jones reveals that she confronted the actor about his previous comments regarding diversity on the show.

In an interview published in October 2013, Thompson, 37, spoke to TV Guide about the NBC sketch series’ lack of black female cast members. “In auditions, they just never find ones that are ready,” the Snakes on a Plane actor said. 

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Jones, 48, addressed the remarks on the Alias Smith and LeRoi podcast, recorded in late 2013, in which she questioned why SNL would have trouble finding black women for the cast. “There’s motherf–kin’ three bitches I can call right now, goddammit, that will fill that spot,” she said. “Just because you don’t know them, that don’t mean that they don’t f–king exist.”

Kenan Thompson and Leslie Jones
Kenan Thompson and Leslie Jones

In late December 2013, Jones auditioned for a spot on the show, which went to Sasheer Zamata, but Jones did land a job on its writing staff that season. And soon after, she didn’t shy away from asking Thompson to explain himself.

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“I came at him like, ‘I heard what you said, motherf–ker,'” the star of the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot told The New Yorker. “He said, ‘Come in, close the door, let’s talk.'” Jones, who became a featured player on SNL in fall 2014, added that Thompson is now “possibly my best friend on the show.”

Thompson, for his part, told The New Yorker that he doesn’t regret his comments.

“What I said was that the show hadn’t found the right people,” he explained. “That was true. And at the end of the day Leslie and Sasheer both got jobs, so I’m happy.”

Tell Us: Was Leslie Jones right to confront Kenan Thompson?

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