After the airing of Gayle King’s bombshell interview with R. Kelly, it was only right that Saturday Night Live take it upon themselves to poke fun at the explosive sit-down.
Less than 24 hours after the full interview aired on Friday night (Mar. 8), SNL called on comedienne Leslie Jones to play the unfazed Gayle King and Kenan Thompson to play the emotional R. Kelly.
In the nearly 8-minute skit, “Gayle” asked “Robert” why he decided to sit down for an interview. “Because people think that I’m some kind of monster. I’m here to remove all the doubt. My lawyer was telling me no, but my ego, my ego, was telling me yes,” Thompson’s Kelly replied. “Look, I made a lot of mistakes in my life. Maybe I can’t read or write or math, but I’m still a person. I put on my pants one sleeve at a time like everybody else.”
Addressing the allegations in Surviving R. Kelly, Thompson’s Kelly complained that the docuseries did not say anything nice about him. “These people made a six-part documentary about me. Six! That’s almost 10,” Thompson’s Kelly said. “And not one of them said a nice thing about me. They made it seem like I was the devil. I’m not the devil, and even if I was, you can’t think of one nice thing to say about the devil? I can: Nice horns. Gives good advice.”
Throughout the interview, Kelly erupted into song mimicking his 2005 series, “Trapped in the Closet.” “It’s 10 o’clock in the morning / And I’m talkin’ to Oprah’s friend / If I can just get through this / Everybody’s gonna love me again,” he sang to himself mid-conversation.
“I really want to laugh right now, but I don’t know if this is a prank on you or a prank on me,” Jones’ King said in response.
Thompson then hilariously mocked Kelly’s viral outburst, yelling: “Guys, think for a minute! Use your brain! Why would I do these things? For 30 years! I gave y’all ‘Trapped in the Closet.’ ‘Feelin’ on Yo Booty.’ ‘Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.’ And so many other clues! And this is how you repay me?”
Jones’ King then chimed, questioning the singer’s innocence. “Robert, you’ve been combative, defensive and completely unhinged, but somehow you expect us to believe you are completely innocent?” She asked.
He replied: “That would be ideal, yes. And now humbly I await your decision, Miss Jail King.”
As the two continued to argue about whether her name was “Jail King,” Thompson spoofed Kelly’s inquiry about the where the cameras were located in the room.
In the spoof interview, Jones’ King said their conversation ranked at 13 on a scale of one to 10, with the latter being the worst. That was probably generous considering the real CBS interview between King and Kelly was far worse. Check out the SNL skit with Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson in the video above.