Gayle King endorses ‘SNL’ parody of her R. Kelly interview

“Saturday Night Live’s” recent sketch spoofing Gayle King’s explosive R. Kelly interview received the CBS journalist’s stamp of approval on Monday.

The cold open starred Leslie Jones as King and Kenan Thompson as the embattled R&B star. It skewered a few of last week’s flashpoints, including Kelly’s outburst that was immortalized in a viral photo of the sit-down.

“wow!” King wrote on Instagram, giving a shout-out to Jones and Thompson. “@nbcSNL recreates THEIR version of @rkelly intvu. The attention detail very on point.”

Review: CBS’ ‘Gayle King: The R. Kelly Interview’ didn’t advance the story »

The interview, Kelly’s first since he was arrested last month on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, made daily headlines last week because of the singer’s combativeness during the segment. And the long-running variety series nailed the costumes, set and camerawork of the interview, down to a cameo from Kelly’s crisis manager (played by Chris Redd) during his rant about his career.

The sketch didn’t go easy on Kelly either. Thompson, as Kelly, insisted that King should address him as “victim,” and Jones, as King, scolded the singer for going off on musical tangents. They both made quips about his intellect and career-spanning hits that provided “clues” into the allegations leveled against him.

On Twitter, Jones said it was an honor to play King and gave the journalist props for the interview. On Instagram, Thompson praised his costar and writers in a heartfelt post about the episode.

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