“SNL” Alum Ana Gasteyer Says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Demanded Closed Set While Appearing as Musical Guest
The comedian made the claims during a recent appearance on the 'Las Culturistas' podcast
The comedian made the claims during a recent appearance on the 'Las Culturistas' podcast
Ana Gasteyer is opening up about one of the most memorable musical guests from her tenure on Saturday Night Live — Sean “Diddy” Combs.
During an appearance on the Wednesday, Nov. 20 edition of the Las Culturistas podcast, the comedian — who appeared on the show from 1996 to 2002 — said that the rapper, 55, "of course, like, shut down the whole building" when he appeared as a musical guest in May 1998.
"You can tell like the five a------- in the six years that I was there when they would be like, 'So and so is in the building, everybody stay in your dressing rooms.' Which is applicable if you're a presidential candidate," Gasteyer, 57, said. "But apart from that, really, it's my house. For P. Diddy, he demanded a totally closed set."
Related: A Timeline of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Sexual Assault Allegations and Arrest
The actress recalled the rapper rehearsing his 1998 track "Come With Me," which samples the 1975 Led Zeppelin song "Kashmir," the Thursday before the show and claimed that Will Ferrell decided to crash the rehearsal after being suggested to do so during a writers room meeting.
She alleges that the fellow comedian, 57, dressed as a character named Ron, "went on down the stairs, and he marched right in."
"And I have the video from the control room where Sean Combs is rapping with like, 'Da-na-na, da-na-na, da-na-na, da-na-na' behind him. And Ron's walking around, looking really disoriented [in character]," said Gasteyer.
She added, "It is the greatest thing that's ever happened because what a deserved person to have their 'Kashmir' moment interrupted by Ron, and [Combs] really did not roll with it. He was very uncomfortable, but it was also just like, the artifice of all that faux importance."
"Like what's gonna happen? You're gonna walk into the studio and you're gonna be like, 'I'm in the studio. I work here,' " continued Gasteyer.
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Ferrel previously backed Gasteyer's claims during a January 2020 interview with Vulture, recalling, "Someone said, ‘Ron should go up onstage,’ and before everyone turned to see, I had sprinted out the door."
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PEOPLE reached out to representatives for Gasteyer, Combs and Saturday Night Live but did not immediately hear back.