Damon Wayans reveals why he ‘purposely’ got fired from ‘SNL’

Damon Wayans is opening up connected the circumstances surrounding his firing from “Saturday Night Live” successful 1986, admitting helium “purposely” got himself canned.

The Emmy-nominated comedian, known for roles successful “In Living Color,” “My Wife and Kids” and “The Great White Hype,” revisited his short-lived stint connected the iconic sketch drama bid — which is looking backmost astatine its 50-year past successful the caller Peacock docuseries “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.”

“I felt similar I was calved to beryllium connected ‘Saturday Night Live,’ truthful I was not tense for the audition,” helium reflects successful the series, but says helium was warned by Eddie Murphy astir each the problems helium could look connected the show.

“Eddie’s proposal to maine was, ‘Write your ain sketches. Otherwise, they’re gonna springiness you immoderate Black radical s–t to bash and you ain’t gonna similar it,” helium says of Murphy, who walked distant from “SNL” successful 1984. “But they would sprout my ideas down. Everything Eddie said came true.”

The 64-year-old Harlem autochthonal says helium often clashed with the show’s achromatic penning squad astir roles that depicted stereotypes, and that helium yet reached a breaking constituent connected the March 15, 1986 episode.

In the infamous “Mr. Monopoly” sketch that was broadcast live, Wayans went off-script by playing his bull quality arsenic an effeminate cheery stereotype who leaned his crotch into big Griffin Dunne’s character.

“I snapped. I conscionable did not care,” Wayans explained. “I purposely did that due to the fact that I wanted [“SNL” creator Lorne Michaels] to occurrence me.”

Michaels said letting Wayans spell was “really, truly hard, but it had to beryllium done.”

Despite unceremoniously leaving the amusement aft conscionable 11 episodes, the “Poppa’s House” prima didn’t bash excessively atrocious for himself.

As a breakout prima of “In Living Color” a fewer years later, Wayans — on with Jamie Foxx, Jim Carey, David Alan Grier and his siblings Keenen Ivory Wayans and Kim Wayans — enjoyed beating “SNL” to triumph the Emmy for Outstanding Variety, Music, oregon Comedy Series aft its archetypal play successful 1990.