Dan Broadbent
If you’re like me, you were excited for the new season of Saturday Night Live that kicked off last night. Anyone who planned on watching anticipated some comedic commentary about Brett Kavanaugh. And SNL, with the help of Matt Damon, freakin’ delivered.
But what I didn’t expect was their musical guest – Kanye West. Or, as he prefers to be called now, “Ye.”
Kanye’s first performance featured him dressed up as a goddamn bottle of Perrier. Seriously.
I didn’t know what was going on. I was confused. Maybe it was a bit late, maybe I’d had a few too many beers, but I couldn’t make any sense of it. And sadly, I missed his second performance of the evening because I muted it before it even started.
But at the end of the show… This happened:
What. The heck. Was that.
It started out as a song that he was rapping over. I’m guessing the audio tech intentionally made the music far too loud for his words to be discernible. The national broadcast was cut off, but word on the street is Kanye was booed. And rightfully so.
Y i k e s.
And to follow it up, he posted this on Twitter:
this represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America and create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment. Message sent with love pic.twitter.com/a15WqI8zgu
— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018
For those of you who are aficionados of the Constitution, the 13th Amendment outlaws slavery. The full text reads:
Section 1.Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Get our exclusive all-over print Lightning Cat shirt, available now in our store!
Kanye then followed that up with another tweet:
the 13th Amendment is slavery in disguise meaning it never ended We are the solution that heals
— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018
What?
And then he further clarified his position:
not abolish but. let’s amend the 13th amendment
We apply everyone’s opinions to our platform
— ye (@kanyewest) September 30, 2018
Amend it to say what, exactly?
I’ve said before that athletes are not role models, but perhaps I need to amend that to say athletes and musical artists are not role models.
But at the end of the day, Kanye is free to exercise his First Amendment rights – as are others on Twitter.
I just need explicit confirmation that you 1. know what “abolish” means and 2. know what the 13th amendment states
— bloop (@antiherenow) September 30, 2018
