Stepping away from Washington for a moment, SNL mocks R. Kelly during cold open


Saturday Night Live took a brief hiatus from the chaos in Washington during Saturday's cold open, instead targeting R&B singer R. Kelly, who was recently charged with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse against four women, including three who were minors at the time of the alleged abuse. Kelly was also just released from a Chicago jail on Saturday where he was being held for failing to pay child support.
The show specifically parodied Kelly's explosive interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning last Wednesday. Cast members Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson portrayed King and Kelly, respectively.
Thompson's Kelly repeatedly asks for Jones' King to refer to him as "victim" during the mock interview, but King steadfastly refuses. Kelly also consistently forgets that the interview has actually started, and occasionally breaks out into song to express his thoughts. Watch the full sketch below. Tim O'Donnell
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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