Chris Redd recalls on-set Kanye West rant, hints at reasons for leaving SNL

"I’m not going to sit here and be like [it was my dream]," Chris Redd said of his 5-season run on Saturday Night Live

By Emma Keates | November 8, 2022 | 9:28pm

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Chris Redd recalls on-set Kanye West rant, hints at reasons for leaving SNL

Chris Redd Photo: Rich Polk

When the great Saturday Night Live exodus of 2022 came for Studio 8H, Repertory Player and Eric Adams impersonator Chris Redd was one of the last cast members to announce his departure—a surprise at the time, especially since the comedian seemed to be “just hitting his stride” on the show.

This is, at least, according to The Daily Beast’s Matt Wilstein, who recently interviewed Redd for the podcast “The Last Laugh,” leading the comedian to open up about his departure for the first time.

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“It was either going to be after this season or [before] this season,” he said. “There’s a lot of things I just want to do and have some of my life back… So I thought that it was better for my growth to do that. These projects will reveal themselves soon and I think it’ll make a lot more sense to a lot of people why I left. But that’s all I’ll say for now.”

While we may not have total clarity on the end of his tenure just yet, Redd did give further insight into his actual experience on the show. When asked about a bit from his new HBO Max special Why Am I Like This? where he refers to SNL as a “white person’s dream,” Redd responded, “It is dream work and I did have a lot of fun. But nah, man, I’m not going to sit here and be like [it was my dream]—because I feel like it takes away from the people who were really dreaming about this when they were kids, you know what I’m saying?… If I had never got it, I wouldn’t be down about that.”

He also shared that his biggest “challenge” was “trying to get your voice in there as much as possible and write something that’s as close to what you would naturally do outside of the show.” He loved working on his special because, among other things, “no one can cut me out of this shit. Ain’t no ‘cut for time’ here, baby!”

What about his famous Kanye West impression—one which he would absolutely be reprising right now for too many reasons to name if he was still in the cast? “I mean, it’s safe to assume my man don’t like that impression,” Redd said. “But, you know, I don’t like what he be saying all the time. So I think we’re even there.”

One of those times was in 2018, when West started in on a pro-Trump rant after his musical performance (the rant never made it to air). During the dress rehearsal, the comedian said, “I was listening to his words, and I was like, bro, he’s about to pull some bullshit. And I’m not about to be on stage for that. I’m not going to entertain this.”

What’s next for Redd? Besides promoting his new special, he’s also interested in writing a sitcom, entering the “horror-comedy space,” writing comedy music, and of course, releasing another special. Basically, while we may have seen the last of Redd on Saturday night, we definitely haven’t seen the last of him anywhere else.

Chris Redd: Why Am I Like This? is now available to stream on HBO Max.