Saturday Night Live returns for its 44th season this weekend, with host Adam Driver and musical guest Kanye West, but it has been revealed that Kanye was actually a last-minute replacement, after original performer Ariana Grande dropped out.
SNL producer Lorne Michaels revealed this to James Andrew Miller on his podcast Origins saying that the singer – whose fiance Pete Davidson is a cast member on the show – pulled out because she has been having a “tough month.”
It’s not clear when the interview took place, but the podcast episode was released on Thursday in the US. In it, Michaels told the host:
“We had Ariana drop out for emotional reasons two days ago. That’s our premiere, and then Kanye West stepped up, and he’ll be there. So, the reach of the show and the number of people who will step forward is now somehow now, I think, probably at its peak.”
Ariana Grande’s ex-boyfriend Mac Miller passed away unexpectedly earlier this month, and the Sweetener singer announced that she would be taking a break from the spotlight to “heal and mend” after the tragedy.
A statement released on her behalf said that she would be “staying close to home and using this period to spend time with her loved ones and work on new music without deadline.”
Earlier this week, Grande posted and then partially deleted a series of concerning Tweets, thanking fans for loving her and adding “i do not deserve it.”
