SNL's Michael Che Confronts Kanye West Backstage In Unearthed Clip From 2018

BY Zachary Horvath 2.8K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
kanye west
MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 23: Kanye West attends the Marni fashion show during the Milan Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 on February 23, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images) LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 13: Michael Che attends the Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford Netflix Live Event at Allegiant Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bryan Steffy/Getty Images)
This one of many new pieces of Kanye West footage that's available now thanks to his new documentary that's currently in theaters.

Kanye West's new documentary is filled with tense moments, including one from his SNL appearance back in 2018. Overall, it was a wild night. The controversial superstar donned a MAGA hat onstage for his final musical performance which was of "Ghost Town" off of ye.

If you remember that episode, you may recall the uncomfortable monologue he delivered after wrapping up the song. "They bullied me backstage. They bullied me, and then they say I'm in a sunken place," Kanye West said about the SNL cast.

He was apparently told, "Don't go out there with that hat on.'" Ye continued, "You wanna see the sunken place? I'mma listen to y'all now. I'm gonna put my Superman cape on."

Elsewhere, you might remember him voicing his support for Donald Trump during the show, among other things. "You can't be controlled by monolithic thoughts," Kanye said.

"You can't always have, every time you have a Black subject matter like [Bill] Cosby that you have to have a Black comedian talking about him." He then pointed towards SNL comedian Michael Che, "You know what I mean?"

However, what you didn't know, until now, is that the co-anchor of the "Weekend Update" segment confronted the Chicago native over his actions after the show backstage.

Kanye West In Whose Name?

In the In Whose Name? footage caught by XXL, Che asks him "You good with me? For real? That was f*cked up." Kanye tries to play off the moment regarding the Bill Cosby comment, claiming that he wasn't referring to Che's joke.

However, Michael wasn't going for it. "I'm the Black comedian that made a joke about Cosby That's f*cked up. Why'd you do that to me?"

Kanye tried to diffuse the situation by telling Che that he "loves him." Che responds, "I love you, too. I'm a fan. Why would you do that to me?"

He adds, "I work here. I work here. Like, come on man. We treat everyone that come in like family and you gonna sell us out. Like, that's f*cked up man. Like we look up to you, we love you. What you got against us?"

That's when Kanye says he's got stuff against SNL, which Che doesn't mind. However, what he doesn't appreciate is how "foul" it was for him to not give themselves a chance to "reply."

Moreover, Consequence is there trying to calm things down.

Overall, this is one of the many clips caught on camera by Nico Ballesteros for In Whose Name? The documentary, which centers around Ye's life from 2018-2024, is out for a limited time in theaters.

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.

Comments 0