Why and when was Damon Wayans fired from SNL? Incident explored as actor recalls exit on SNL50 special

Damon Wayans’ brief but animated stint on Saturday Night Live in 1985-1986 was part of the conversation on the fourth episode of Peacock’s docu-series SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. The comedian and actor, who was fired after his last appearance on a 1986 episode of Saturday Night Live, said that he "purposefully got himself fired."

Damon Wayans is known for films such as Mo’ Money (which he also wrote), The Last Boy Scout, Celtic Pride, and Bulletproof, which also starred Adam Sandler. In 2000, Wayans was part of director Spike Lee’s social satire Bamboozled.

Wayans also had a starring role in ABC’s My Wife and Kids, which ran for four years from 2001 to 2005. For his role, Wayans won a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series in 2002.

Early on in his career, Wayans was part of the Saturday Night Live cast during the sketch-based comedy show’s eleventh season. As one of his first few on-screen jobs, Wayans was looking forward to being on the show. In SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, Wayans said,

“I felt like I was born to be on Saturday Night Live.”

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Eddie Murphy’s advice to Damon Wayans

Before landing his spot on Saturday Night Live, Damon Wayans played a small role in comedy god Eddie Murphy’s landmark 1984 film, Beverly Hills Cop.

Murphy had just exited Saturday Night Live after leaving a lasting impression on the show. Wayans remembered Murphy’s counsel on SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night, saying,

“Eddie’s advice to me was, ‘Write your own sketches. Otherwise they’re going to give you some Black people s**t to do, and you ain’t gon’ like it.’”

Even though Wayans kept pitching his sketches to the Saturday Night Live creators, his efforts were in vain. All of the comedian’s ideas would be dismissed, and he would be given stereotypically oversimplified Black characters to perform. In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Wayans said,

“They had me in scenes where I would just hold a spear, and I’m like, ‘I’m not doing that, my mother’s gonna watch this show.’ No lines, just holding a spear, in a thong. I’m like, I can’t do this, I said ‘y’all need to hire an extra.’ So they told me, ‘you’re not a team player,’ I said, ‘no, I’m just not a slave.'”

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Damon Wayans’ firing from Saturday Night Live

According to Damon Wayans, things got so out of control while working on Saturday Night Live that he got extremely worked up. In the docu-series, Wayans shared that he wanted to be fired from Saturday Night Live. Wayans said,

"I snapped. I just did not care.”

And so, during the infamous Mr. Monopoly sketch released on March 15, 1986, Wayans took the rest of the cast, writers, and producers by surprise when he started improvising on air. Wayans delivered “his lines like a very effeminate gay guy,” according to a fellow cast member, Jon Lovitz.

Wayans’ act of insubordination turned out to be the nail in the coffin as he was fired on the spot by the show creator, producer, and writer, Lorne Michaels.

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Damon Wayans' career after Saturday Night Live

Despite his unceremonious exit from Saturday Night Live, Wayans went on to have a career-defining stint in the sketch comedy show In Living Color.

Created by Wayans’ brother, Keenen Wayans, the comedy series which ran from 1990 to 1994 is credited with introducing us to comedy legends such as Jim Carrey (The Mask) and Jamie Foxx.

Looking back at Saturday Night Live's 50 years, Damon Wayans journey with the series did have a redeeming end. He was welcomed back to the show for a role in the last episode of the eleventh season and as a host in an episode aired on April 8, 1995, where he performed a satirical monologue.