Actor/comedian Jerrod Carmichael made his “Saturday Night Live” debut days after the release of his HBO special where he officially shared with the world that he’s gay. Get your laugh on, plus deets about his special, “Rothaniel,” inside…
Jerrod Carmichael - who created, starred & executive produced “The Carmichael Show” - had an eventful week, which he topped off by making his “Saturday Night Live” debut with musical guest, GUNNA.
During his opening monologue, Jerrod joked about coming out as gay in his brand new HBO special, “Rothaniel.”
“[This] is nice but an expected response in New York,” he said in reference to the audience’s applause. “It’s actually why I live here. If you say you’re gay in New York, you can ride the bus for free, and people just give you pizza. Honestly, if you’re gay in New York, you get to host Saturday Night Live. This is the gayest thing you can possibly do.”
The “SNL” host said he wasn’t planning to address the moment in his monologue, but SNL honcho Lorne Michaels specifically asked him to discuss it because “the nation needs to heal.”
“We’re basically like an Andy Warhol fever dream right now. ‘Heal the nation’? I’ve been gay for like 48 hours, bro? There’s so much gay stuff I gotta do before I can heal the nation. I’ve got so many homophobic cousins — I can’t even heal my family.”
Ha!
Jerrod also grudgingly addressed the “Oscars slap” and he did so without mentioning any names.
“I’m not gonna talk about it,” he began. “I’ve talked about it enough. Kept talking about it. Kept thinking about it. I don’t wanna talk about it. You can’t make me talk about it.”
He joked how it felt like the incident happened so long ago when in reality it was just days ago.
“Six days. This happened a week ago. Doesn’t this feel like it happened years ago?” he said. He joked that it was exciting to talk about on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday,“I wanted to kill myself,” he joked.
Watch his monologue below:
And here are a few of Jerrod’s “SNL” skits he starred in:
On Friday…
The comedian’s new HBO special “Rothaniel” premiered on HBO.
Spoiler Alert! There are details about the special below.
”Rothaniel” - which was filmed in February at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NYC - gives fans a more in-depth understanding about the 34-year-old comedian where he tells story about his family and his own coming out process. Jerrod - whose real name is Rothaniel - talked about the weight he carried keeping a secret about his sexuality and how his relationships with friends and family changed after he came out.
After sharing how he found out his father had been cheating on his mother, he said,
“After that was out in the open, I was left alone feeling like a liar, because I had a secret,” he shared. “One that I kept from my father, my mother, my family, my friends, and you. Professionally, personally. And the secret is that I’m gay.”
“I’m accepting the love, I really appreciate the love. My ego wants to rebel against it,” he said. “I rebelled against it my whole life. I thought I’d never, ever come out. At many points I thought I’d rather die than confront the truth of that, to actually say it to people. Because I know it changes some people’s perceptions of me. I can’t control that.”
He said he “hid it” from his mom because he “was afraid that her reaction would be to just go inside with it.” He recalled his mom telling him, “I can’t go against Jesus” and said she has since been “trying to accept it.”
Watch the trailer below:
”Rothaniel” can be streamed on HBO Max.
BONUS:
Rapper Gunna hit the stage twice to perform his tracks “pushin P “ft. Future and “Banking On Me" on "SNL." Check it:
Photo: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
