It’s not all about the Benjamins for Kenan Thompson.
The Saturday Night Live star—who joined the sketch show in 2003 and is the longest-tenured performer in its 50-year history—weighed in after Pete Davidson and other former cast members discussed their SNL salaries.
“It’s pretty notorious that it’s more so about having the job than getting paid for the job,” the comedian told Variety in an interview published Dec. 6. “You gotta pay your dues a little bit, yeah.”
In a recent video, several SNL alums including Pete, Jason Sudeikis, Seth Meyers, Cheri Oteri and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, as well as current cast members Bowen Yang and James Austin Johnson, detailed their earnings from the late-night staple and how they spent their first paychecks.
“Do you guys know what they pay us?” Pete, who starred on the long-running series from 2014 to 2022, said in the clip posted on New York magazine’s Instagram account Dec. 4. “It’s like three grand an episode. I think I got dinner.”
