Samuel L. Jackson may not be banned from “Saturday Night Live” after all.
The newly crowned Oscar-winner talked about a recent run-in with “SNL” ringleader Lorne Michaels on Entertainment Weekly’s “The Awardist” podcast.
Jackson, 73, famously dropped an F-bomb during a “What’s up With That?” sketch on the live comedy show in December 2012.
He’s jokingly blamed cast member Kenan Thompson, 44, for the mishap on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in March, saying Thompson was supposed to cut him off before he uttered the expletive.
While in New York promoting “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,” Jackson said he happened to get into an elevator as Michaels, 77, was getting off.
“Are you ever gonna let me back on the show?” Jackson recalled asking, saying he pulled his mask down so that Michaels would recognize him.
“You’re not banned,” Michaels answered, according to Jackson.
He claimed the two went back and forth.
“Yes, I am!” … “No, you’re not!”
“So maybe I’m not [banned]. I don’t know,” Jackson said on the EW podcast.
Entertainment Weekly said it recently confirmed that there is no official ban keeping Jackson from returning to the show.
“Russian Doll” star Natasha Lyonne, 43, will host the final Season 47 episode of “SNL” — along with musical guest Japanese Breakfast — on Saturday at 11:29 p.m. ET.
“Kenan [Thompson] got me banned from ‘Saturday Night Live,'” Jackson told Leslie Jones on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in March. “He didn’t cut me off soon enough and I said the forbidden word on television.”Getty Images
