Kenan Thompson Says Kanye West Held ‘Saturday Night Live’ Cast Hostage, Sort Of

Kanye West’s appearance for the season premiere of Saturday Night Live has generated a ton of buzz. There was the moment he showed up onstage dressed as a bottle of Perrier Sparkling Water with Lil Pump opting to look like a Fiji water bottle. Then, there was the political rant that surfaced when the premiere ended about being “bullied” for his choice to wear a Make America Great Again hat. But, the news never really ends when Kanye’s involved. Last night, on the Late Night with Seth Meyers, SNL castmate Kenan Thompson says the cast was held hostage. Sort of.

“He voiced his opinion very loudly and for a long time,” Thompson told Meyers. “We’re all entitled to voice our opinion, I don’t know if that’s the moment to hold people hostage like that.” The former child star decided not to join the rest of his castmates onstage for ‘Ye’s speech and doesn’t seem to regret it. “As soon as he said, ‘Hey join me on stage everybody.’ I was like, ‘There goes the little cheese in the mousetrap. It’s going down!’” Thompson originally left the stage because he wanted to get a better view of the musical performance, but felt for his colleagues who had fallen for the bait and switch. “I felt so bad for those guys,” he said. “It’s hard to stand there and not be able to debate somebody who’s going so far against your personal opinion, as well, and just stand there and take it.”

It’s kind of ironic that Kanye West would do an impromptu speech about bullying and projecting beliefs and ideals on people, while creating an atmosphere on the stage where people weren’t able to leave or challenge his points. Will he have the answers on the newly-delayed Yandhi? Who really knows at this point.

Kristin Corry is a staff writer for Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.