Sometimes when you make a major change in your life, it can be easy to judge someone else, who was in the same position you used to occupy. It can happen to the best of us. Still, it ain’t right. This is where Rev. Al Sharpton found himself recently when he came for comedian and “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kenan Thompson.
Here’s what happened. As many of you know this week was David Letterman’s last week on television. So now, people are wondering who is going to take his place as the host of the Late Show. Since the late time slot is dominated by White men, people are suggesting Black, (still male) comedians who couple possibly step in.
Somewhere in the conversation, Kenan Thompson’s name came up as an option. TMZ caught up with Al Sharpton to see what he thought about Thompson in this role. If you watch “SNL,” you know that Kenan has been known to imitate Al Sharpton.
And while most celebs take it in stride, Sharpton seems to be a little perturbed.
“Kenan Thompson would be great if he quit imitating me. He needs to lose weight. You can’t look like old Al doing the new Al. Come on Kenan, update yourself, take off 50 pounds and I’ll see what I can do about getting you on late night. People can’t go to sleep looking at somebody that heavy. It makes them get up in the middle of the night and get a piece of cake or some Kool Aid.”
Later, in the interview Sharpton says that at one point he was over 300 pounds. So he hasn’t completely forgotten…
Now, perhaps he’s trying to take jabs in an attempt to give Kenan a dose of his own medicine but, if that was the case, the best case scenario, it didn’t go over too well. Instead, Sharpton just sounds forgetful of his own struggle and hypocritical.
I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Sharpton speak. I genuinely like him, despite the naysayers. Still, this right here is not ok. In reality, Al Sharpton was big and much heavier than Kenan far longer than he’s been slim and trim. He’s gotta do better than this.
See what he had to say in the full video below.
