PHOTOS‘SNL’ Star Kenan Thompson Set To Host The 2020 White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Kenan Thompson is bringing his comedic skills the White House. The White House Correspondents’ Association announced on Tuesday, February 18 that the Saturday Night Live star, 41, would be hosting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April 2020. Fellow comedian Hasan Minhaj will join as the “featured entertainer.”
Chief White House correspondent for ABC News and president of the WHCA Jonathan Karl released a statement saying, “Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America. I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy.”
He added, “We’re looking forward to a lively evening honoring the most important political journalism of the past year.” Hasan, 34, performed at the ceremony in 2017 however, this is Kenan’s first time appearing at the event.
The Nickelodeon alum has kept busy over the years between being a judge on Bring The Funny and working on his own pilot the Kenan Show set to premiere during the 2020/2021 television season. The All That alum also became the longest standing SNL actor, breaking the record with a total of 17 season. He beat Darrell Hammond, who was on the show for 14 seasons.
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During an interview with Deadline in August 2018, the comedian spoke about his tenure at the show and if he felt he got the proper recognition from his castmates because of his status. “I mean, yeah, somewhat,” the star began.
He continued, “I try to help whoever asks for help or whatever. Or if I see something that I think could help a sketch, then I’ll try to voice my opinion on that, but that’s only been recent. But every cast member that comes in there, if they get the job, they’re ready to do it so they don’t need much advice.”
Kenan also revealed that despite his preference for more “jolly” work, he wouldn’t mind working on more dramatic features. “Yeah it would be awesome. I mean I could totally do it. I grew up doing very serious theater in high school, it’s just my on-camera persona has always been very jolly and comedy.”
He added, “If I’m going to do comedy, I’d much rather it be fun than exhausting. You want it to be smart but if it’s starting to stress me out then I’d rather not. I’d rather do something else.”
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