Samuel L. Jackson says he's asked Lorne Michaels about that Saturday Night Live ban

The slip occurred during the recurring sketch “What Up With That” (below), in which Thompson’s character perpetually interrupts his guests with musical interludes. Jackson got very into character playing himself, and ended up swearing on live TV. After the sketch aired, he wrote on Twitter: “I only said FUH not FUCK! K was sposed to cut off da BULLSHIT, blew it!!”

Though Jackson believed he was forbidden from Studio 8H’s hallowed halls after that, he told Entertainment Weekly’s podcast The Awardist that Lorne Michaels told him otherwise. According to EW, Jackson says he was getting on an elevator as Michaels was getting off (Michaels supposedly didn’t recognize the film legend until he lowered his mask), and Jackson asked him, “Are you ever gonna let me back on the show?”

Michaels told him, “You’re not banned!” but Jackson–who only hosted once, in 1998–argued, “Yes, I am!” Michaels reiterated, “No, you’re not!” Jackson still didn’t seem convinced on the podcast, concluding: “So maybe I’m not. I don’t know.”

Maybe there’s a reasonable explanation as to why Jackson hasn’t appeared on the show in 10 years. Let’s be real, though, if you were confronted in an elevator by Samuel L. Jackson, you’d probably tell him exactly what he wanted to hear, regardless of what the truth is!