Announcer…..Darrell Hammond
…..Seth Meyers
[ Camera pans to the SNL stage where the house band is playing the theme music. ]
Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, Seth Meyers.
[ Seth walks onto the stage smiling and claps along with the audience. ]
Seth Meyers: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone. It is so exciting to be back at SNL. I worked at this show for over 12 years. I loved it. I love being here. Leaving it was incredibly hard. I cried on my last show and then for real took a job down the hall. The Late Night studio is 100 yards that way. I had an emotional breakdown and then basically moved from Rachel and Monica’s apartment to Joey and Chandler’s apartment, which was very emotional or Rachel. So there is precedent. But this place still means so much to me because so many people who worked here are my dear friends.
There were over 100 people at my wedding from this show. I love them all so much. I love Andy Samberg so much, I named my two boys, Dick and Box. And surprisingly, Box is the troublemaker. Dick is a little gentleman. This place makes memories flood back, For example, the cold open was about Donald Trump and Kanye West. I was here when DOnald Trump hosted in 2004. He played my father in a sketch. Let’s take a look.
[ Cut to an image of Seth Meyers sitting on a couch with Donald Trump during a sketch from 2004. ]
Seth Meyers: There you go. Most people who have pictures of themselves with Presidents, get them framed. I did not. And then Kanye. So, a lot of people are surprised that Kanye supports Donald Trump. But I am not, because I have met Kanye. And I am incapable of being surprised by him.
Here is a true story about Kanye West. And let me preface it by saying that I am a huge Kanye West fan. When I was here, no one did more memorable performances than Kanye West. One time, he was the musical guest but we heard that he wanted to do a sketch. So we pitched him a sketch where he would interrupt different award show speeches saying that he made a mistake and he should have won. And Kanye said that’s hilarious because I do that. Which is good self awareness. And so we did the sketch. We had Kanye interrupt the Kids Choice Awards, the Nobel Prize. He interrupted a State Fair because he was upset his pumpkin didn’t win. Fantastic, a great experience.
But here’s the thing. Here’s the reason I will never be surprised by Kanye West. That sketch was in 2007 and he interrupted Taylor Swift in 2009. That whole time I was telling you that story, you thought it was based on him interrupting Taylor Swift. That hadn’t happened yet. Kanye did a sketch about how crazy it was he interrupted speeches, and then two years later he was at an award show and thought, ‘I should do it again’. So when people say are your surprised that Kanye supports Trump, I say ‘No.’ And, look, I don’t usually get to say this, but my first five years were so hard. I was trying to fit it and I was always worried I wouldn’t make it. Five years of constant terror. And that is the truth.
And after that, I got Weekend Update with Amy Poehler. And I sat at a desk that was placed right here on this stage. And I was lucky enough to be head writer. And after that, I was happy every single second that I spent here. And now that I am back, so is the terror. But also the joy. So thank you so much for letting me do this. It’s an honor. We got a great show. Paul Simon is here tonight, everybody! So stick around, and w’ll be right back!
