Comedy showcase "Saturday Night Live" took a break from its usual mockery of President Donald Trump to skewer R. Kelly and his legal woes. The show on Saturday re-created the singer's recent television interview with Gayle King in which Kelly, who has been charged with 10 counts of felony aggravated sexual abuse, vehemently denied the allegations. In the sketch, Leslie Jones portrayed King and Kenan Thompson was Kelly. "SNL's" question-and-answer opened with Kelly requesting that he be addressed as "victim." King did not go along. Much of his banter was set to the tune of R. Kelly songs, including "Bump and Grind." He explained why he was speaking to the media while facing serious allegations of sexual misconduct with girls under the age of 17. "My lawyer was telling me no," he said, "but my ego — my ego was telling me yes." When asked why people think he has a harem of young girls and leads a cult, he responded, "Probably because it looks like I have a harem of young girls and I started a cult." In reality, the singer has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any misconduct. In the "SNL" skit, Kelly revisited his hip-hop opera "Trapped in the Closet" during an interlude about how the interview wasn't going well. "It’s 10 o'clock in the morning and I’m talking to Oprah’s friend," Kelly sang. "If I can just get through this EVERYBODY's going to love me again." After the interview skit, "SNL" parodied a game show, "Can I Play That," in which a diverse set of working actors test their skills at choosing roles in the "woke" era. The host, played by Thompson, explained, "This game is produced by Twitter. Twitter, one mistake and we’ll kill ya." A contestant played by Cecily Strong took on the question of whether she could play the president. She concluded that she could, but only if the role was for a comedy. It was agreed that recent Academy Award winner Rami Malek, who took home the best actor trophy, "can play anybody," regardless of ethnicity, Thompson said. The final round question was, "Can you play James Bond?" "Hey I know the answer to that one," said the workaday actor portrayed by show host Idris Elba, who has been rumored off and on to be in the running for the Bond role. "Do ya, though?" Thompson responds. The showcase's news segment, "Weekend Update," returned to R. Kelly, with repertory player Pete Davidson speaking about how artists who make music he enjoys are often troubled. But he said people should be able to enjoy artistic products without it being seen as an endorsement of the performer's behavior. "If you support the Catholic Church," he said, "isn't that like the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan?" Davidson suggested he didn't lose much sleep over enjoying music by Kelly and Michael Jackson despite allegations — which Kelly has denied as did Jackson before his death — that they've sexually abused minors. However, he insisted, "If I found out Macklemore did some weird stuff, I’d be happy to free up the space on my iPhone." Davidson addressed attention over his relationship with actor Kate Beckinsale, who's 20 years his senior. "Apparently people have a crazy fascination with our age difference," he said. He suggested that anyone who has questions about it should ask a long list of men who've dated much younger women, a list, he said, that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, Billy Joel, Larry King, Rod Stewart and Donald Trump. Multi-platinum artist Khalid was the musical guest. CORRECTION (March 10, 2019, 10:49 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of NBC’s late night comedy show. It is “Saturday Night Live,” not “Saturday Night Life.”<doc-sep>It didn't take long for things to heat up on this weekend's episode of "Saturday Night Live." Kenan Thompson and Leslie Jones kicked off the opening sketch by spoofing Gayle King's explosive interview with R. Kelly. The real interview, which aired Tuesday on "CBS This Morning," was Kelly's first since his arrest on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. In the intense sit-down, Kelly devolved into hysterics, screaming and crying as he emphatically maintained his innocence and claimed his accusers were lying. During the skit, Jones channeled King's much-praised composed nature, while Thompson brought Kelly's hysterics to the next comedic level. "Just tell me why all those women would say the same things about you if they wasn't (sic) true?" Jones said. "You can start a rumor about any celebrity – just like that," Thompson's Kelly replied, snapping his fingers. "All you've got to do is push a button on your phone, and say 'R. Kelly did this to me,' and then attach a video of me doing that thing, and people will believe you. It's scary." And just as Kelly did in the real interview, Thompson starts to get visibly upset, standing up from his chair and raising his voice as he tries to defend himself. "Guys, think for a minute. Use your brains, why would I do these things?" Thompson yelled. "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? I don't have anybody left in my corner!" More 'SNL':Pete Davidson compares R. Kelly to Catholic Church Surprise! Gwyneth Paltrow makes 'SNL' cameo as Goop manager<doc-sep>
Comedian Pete Davidson didn't hold back during the Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live this weekend, comparing people who support the Catholic church to R. Kelly fans. Mocking Catholics over the church's string of sexual abuse cases, Davidson referred to the scandal involving the singer who has been accused of sexual abuse involving minors, with allegations detailed in the recent documentary Surviving R. Kelly. Seemingly aware that he was stepping into a controversial subject, Davidson began by commenting: "Have you guys seen the R. Kelly documentary? Before I continue, like this guy is a monster, and he should go to jail forever." He then continued: "But if you support the Catholic church, isn't that like the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan? No, I don't really see the difference, only, like, one's music is significantly better," Davidson joked. "No, just the other day, the other day my mom was like, 'I'm going to mass.' And I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to go listen to the Ignition remix.'" Also mentioning the Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland that looked into allegations of abuse involving the late singer, Davidson continued: "Look, I'm not saying its an easy decision, like, I'm just saying you don't know how good someone's music really is until you find out they're a pedophile. And the reason everyone's so upset is 'cos R Kelly and Michael Jackson make great music. If I found out Macklemore did some weird stuff, I'd be happy to free up the space on my iPhone." Kelly, who was found not guilty in a 2008 trial on child pornography charges after being accused of making a sex tape with an underage girl, discussed the documentary and the recent accusations in an explosive interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning on Tuesday—which was also parodied on SNL. Mocking the interview, in which the singer became emotional, Kenan Thompson, playing R. Kelly, quipped: "Guys, think for a minute. Use your brains, 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? I don't have anybody left in my corner!"