SNL Musical Guest Roddy Ricch Drops Out After COVID-19 Exposure

By Spencer Perry

Last week saw Saturday Night Live confirm the host and musical guest for their first episode of 2022 with West Side Story star and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose set to host and Roddy Ricch serving as the musical guest. Now, three days before the show, the Grammy award winning Ricch has confirmed that he will be dropping out of his performance after being exposed to COVID-19. On his Instagram story he wrote: "Due to recent COVID exposure on my team and to keep everyone safe I won't be able to perform on SNL this weekend. I'm working with the SNL team to lock in a new date though! LOVE STAY SAFE"

This isn't the first time that Saturday Night Live has been forced to adjust its plans due to COVID-19 however. The final episode of the show in 2021 was largely cancelled ahead of air time with only pre-recorded sketches and fan favorites airing in the time slot. Host Paul Rudd did appear live alongside special guests Tom Hanks and Tina Fey but the episode should have come with an asterisk next to the "Live" in its title. Back in October of 2020 they had a similar incident where country singer Morgan Wallen had his appearance on the show cancelled after videos of him socializing without a mask in public began to appear online. Wallen would go on to appear on the series in December.

Saturday Night Live has already confirmed a replacement for Roddy Ricch who will perform on this weeks' show with Bleachers set to take his place. 

Another surprise adjustment by Saturday Night Live at the end of last year was when they quickly swapped out a planned re-run so they could re-air the episode hosted by the late Betty White. The Golden Girls' star passed away on New Year's Eve and her episode as host was slotted in the next day. White's appearance as host was due in part to massive Facebook campaign which in the end earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

The final episode of Saturday Night Live that aired in December of 2021 had limited crew and no audience in attendance, but no limitations on who will be present have been announced just yet. Saturday Night Live also has two more episodes on the schedule for January, taking place the two weeks after DeBose's edition. The show hasn't yet revealed those hosts or musical guests will be either.

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