'SNL' Cast Thought Lorne Michaels 'Helped' 'Billionaire' Trump

A new tell-all reveals how the Saturday Night Live cast felt when Donald Trump hosted the show.

In the new book, Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, written by The New Yorker's Susan Morrison, highlights the tension between Lorne Michaels and the people working on the sketch comedy show after the current president, 78, spent a week at Studio 8H during his first campaign in November 2015.
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According to the book, Michaels, 80, said two weeks before the 2016 election: "It's the hardest thing for me to explain to this generation that the show is nonpartisan."
"We have our biases, we have our people we like better than others, but you can't be Samantha Bee," the producer stated.
However, some cast members believed Michaels was subtly "helping" Trump.

According to Morrison, the SNL boss requested his team "tone down a harsh Trump sketch" and leave the space for him to show "some charm."
Writer Tim Robinson was not thrilled with Michaels' approach.
"Lorne has lost his f—— mind and someone needs to shoot him in the back of the head," he allegedly said at the time.

Despite resistance from some, other people — including Kate McKinnon and Larry David — allegedly "both said, 'I really like the guy'" at the after-party of Trump's episode.
Speculation about Michaels' relationship with the businessman continued. Although he emphasized how he thought Trump's political campaign was "a big joke," others thought the executive was trying his best to help his "billionaire friend."

Once the right-wing leader clenched victory in November 2016, staffers at the show "continued to feel that they were responsible for the national disaster" of Trump's election.
While some cast and writers were "sobbing" the day after America chose to take a chance on The Apprentice star, Michaels told them, "We did our best."
Many thought "the show had been criminally soft on Trump," Morrison penned, adding how people were "confused and annoyed" by Michaels' reaction.
"We helped him get elected!" Aidy Bryant allegedly lamented.

The first show after Trump won opened on a somber note with McKinnon, 41, as Hillary Clinton at the piano singing "Hallelujah" — a move not loved by some alums. "Where are the jokes?" Chris Rock pressed Michaels about during rehearsal.
"Y'all ­really betted against the rich white guy," frequent host Dave Chappelle allegedly said of the cast's outrage. "That's like betting against the Harlem Globetrotters."