The accolades and achievements keep coming for Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson !
NBC and the Television Academy announced that the longest-running SNL cast member will host the 74th Emmy Awards next month. The ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. The show will air live on Monday, Sept.12 on NBC and stream online on Peacock.
“Being a part of this incredible evening where we honor the best of the television community is ridiculously exciting, and to do it on NBC — my longtime network family — makes it even more special,” Thompson said in a written statement.
This news comes the same week that Thompson was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported the award-winning actor and comedian was memorialized with the 2,728th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Aug. 11.
Executive Vice President of Live Events for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, Jen Neal , stated, “Kenan is well-regarded as one of funniest, likeable and accomplished performers of the last two decades and his tenure on Saturday Night Live speaks for itself. We know he’ll bring an excitement and professionalism to the Emmy Awards that a show of this stature deserves.”
Thompson was first seen as part of Nickelodeon’s all-kid sketch comedy series All That. He and fellow cast member, Kel Mitchell , had their own spinoff series, Kenan and Kel, in 1996. Thompson joined SNL in 2003 and has been there for 19 seasons, making him the longest-running cast member of the show, which is approaching its 50th season.
The Good Burger actor received two Emmy Award nominations in 2021 for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his sitcom, Kenan , and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Saturday Night Live . He also received two Emmy nominations back in 2018 and in 2020 in the supporting actor category for SNL , as well as an Emmy for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in 2018 for the SNL song “Come Back, Barack .”
Written by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton | Shared from Black Enterprise @blackenterprise
