Wayans basically “broke the ultimate [ SNL] golden rule, which is no surprises,” according to Live From New York author James Andrew Miller. Former writer A. Whitney Brown added, “You cannot go rogue. You cannot try to steal a sketch.”

Michaels said he canned him midseason because “it had to be done,” EW noted. Before his unauthorized improv, Wayans said in the doc he was warned by “SNL” great Eddie Murphy that as a Black man he would be pigeonholed into certain characters, so he’d better write his own, Deadline reported.

Damon Wayans is opening up about his short stint on Saturday Night Live and the sketch that got him fired from the NBC late-night sketch show.

Damon Wayans is opening up on the circumstances surrounding his firing from “Saturday Night Live” in 1986, admitting he “purposely” got himself canned.

The comedian looks back on "purposely" jeopardizing his position due to frustrations with creative direction in a docuseries on the sketch comedy.

Damon Wayans has revealed how he “purposely” got himself fired from “Saturday Night Live” by going off script. Wayans was a cast member for Season 11 of the sketch comedy series, which has been deemed “the weird year,” as it marked Lorne ...

Live' marks 50 years, Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall recently looked back on their brief run on the infamous Season 11.

Damon Wayans was a cast member during season 11 of SNL, when the show had an overhaul on existing stars participating.

Damon Wayans recalls his controversial SNL sketch and firing in Peacock's docuseries 'SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night.'

In the 1980s, Damon Wayans was an up-and-coming comedian who landed a coveted spot as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. He appeared in just 11 episodes from 1985 to 1986 and was fired after an off-script moment during the live broadcast. When looking back on the moment, Wayans explained that it all happened as he planned.

"Having not fired anybody for the first five years, [firing Damon Wayans] was really, really hard," the producer admitted in an older interview featured in SNL50. "But it had to be done." Wayans had broken a cardinal rule of the show,