Kanye West says he's 'praying' for Issa Rae after she uses him as an SNL punchline

Kanye West was not amused by Issa Rae using him as a punchline during the Oct. 17 episode of Saturday Night Live. Rae had appeared in a "Your Voice Chicago" sketch where she played an NAACP lawyer who went to great lengths to justify "voting for everybody Black" — a twist on her comment at the 2017 Emmy Awards that she was "rooting for everybody Black."

But even Rae's lawyer had her limits: "When we come back, we'll talk about the presidential race between Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Kanye West," Kenan Thompson, who was playing the show's anchor, said, with an exasperated Rae blurting: "Kanye? F him."

On Sunday morning, West responded to the skit, tweeting that "I've always said SNL uses Black people to hold other Black people back," and adding: "My heart goes out to Issa Rae. I'm praying for her and her family."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

West released his first presidential campaign ad last week, less than a month before the election. In it, he claimed that "we as a people will revive our nation's commitment to faith, to what our Constitution calls the free exercise of religion, including, of course, prayer. Through prayer, faith can be restored."