
Chris Redd is well aware that Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) is not a fan of his impression. But the Saturday Night Live cast member also said in an interview with the SiriusXM channel “Stars” this week that he doesn’t really care.
The super-nimble impressionist and sketch master checked of a list of other people who don’t love his takes on them (Sen. Cory Booker, sports commentator Stephen A. Smith), while explaining that he hasn’t hear from Ye directly about his issues his Yeezy impersonation, but rather felt the Donda 2 rapper had telegraphed his distaste “through action. I did the impression [and] he was there, [Dave] Chapelle and some other folks and I tapped him on the shoulder to say what up, and he didn’t even fully turn around,” Redd recalled of an encounter he had with West.
“He just did this Batman thing,” Redd demonstrated, turning his back to the camera and very subtly peeking over his shoulder with one eye. “Like he just did this real quick and I was like, ‘So… he don’t like it?'” And though that was Redd’s take-away, he said it was all good. “Sometimes people can’t take a joke,” he added casually.
“Stars” Co-host Julia Cunningham brought up the elephant in the room: the fact that Ye has been launching attacks on Redd’s buddy and fellow cast member Pete Davidson, who is currently dating the rapper’s ex-wife, reality star Kim Kardashian. “There are people clamoring like, ‘How would SNL interpret what’s just been happening within the news?’,” she said, acknowledging that the back-and-forth between Ye and Davidson has been “sad” and “not-so-funny” at times recently.
Cunningham then asked if at any point the writers on the show had a conversation about how to handle the endless stream of headlines — which have included Ye posting alleged text messages from Davidson and appearing to bury a claymation version of the comedian in his “Eazy” video — without stoking the flames of the conflict and treating Davidson and the situation with respect.
“When it comes to Ye I’m always of the mind that I’ll make fun… look, I was raised joking, you clown, you clown people that’s how you come up,” said Redd, who explained that he and Ye come from the “same place” and know a lot of the same people. “At the same time, there is a serious layer to that situation that I just won’t make fun of. I’m not making fun of his mental health, I have mental health issues myself. So I’m very aware of those things and I never come from that place of making fun of that specifically.”
That said, the “irresponsibility” of some of Ye’s recent actions and the MC’s “ego” are something Redd said he would make fun of. The comedian — who noted that he’s a fan of West’s and though they’re not friends, wishes the best for him — added that he’s been on the phone with their mutual friends and come to the conclusion that it’s not a good idea to put his pal Davidson in a weird situation by “antagonizing” the situation and “stir[ring] the pot on something that unhealthy.”
“I’m really tired of sittin’ on these jokes, though, so I hope they figure it out soon,” Redd admitted. “Cuz I ain’t got nothin’ to do with none of this. I think Pete’s handling it well and he’s starting to talk again and he’s handling that well, so I think these jokes are going to start flying soon.” Davidson, who has been noticeably absent from the show for the past few weeks, was slated to fly into sub-orbit on Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket next week, but was scrubbed from the mission after it was pushed back on Thursday (March 17).
West was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours on Wednesday after the Meta-owned site said his recent posts violated Insta’s policies on hate speech, bullying and harassment.
Watch Redd talk about West on SiriusXM below.