‘Saturday Night Live’ Star Devon Walker Jokes That He Sees Why Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock

Devon Walker now understands why everyone says to never meet your heroes, because you might just end up telling them to keep you’re wife’s name out their fucking mouth, too.

Going into the current Saturday Night Live offseason, Walker topped Cracked’s list of candidates to leave the show’s illustrious cast, either by choice or by pink slip. Walker’s promotion to repertory cast in SNL Season 50 confusingly led to less screentime for the affable, 34-year-old, Austin, Texas-born stand-up comedian, and as Walker joins the inaugural lineup of Kevin Hart’s LOL Live stand-up series on Hulu, he may not have any desire to continue working the notoriously taxing SNL production schedule while he continues to grow his stand-up career. 

Plus, after Walker’s first 30-minute LOL Live special debuts on streaming this Friday and Lorne Michaels sees how Walker chose to roast one of SNL’s most illustrious alumni, the comedy kingpin might just try and give Walker the Season 11 cast treatment in real life.

In a new interview with LateNighter, Walker teased what he anticipates will be his most controversial and possibly career-altering joke from LOL Live with Devon Walker. “Sometimes you get to have lunch with your hero… really kind of feel their whole vibe,” Walker explained. “At the end of that, you just get to be like, ‘Man, I see why Will Smith hit you.’”

Walker introduced his bit about having lunch with Rock by calling it his joke that will “ruffle a couple feathers in the industry” when the LOL Live special drops on Friday, but he's not worried about losing career opportunities because of it.

“People have asked me if I was hesitant (to include it),” Walker said of the burn before questioning why A-list celebrities should be a dangerous target for stand-up jokes. “I feel like we’re in a time where people feel really comfortable saying negative things about groups that already have it hard. There’s so many people punching down to marginalized groups and people who are having a fucked-up existence right now. Why can’t we get back to our roots, which is making fun of rich and famous people? The people who are doing fine ultimately.”

Still, Walker admitted, “That joke in particular is one that will probably have a couple of people looking at me a little weird at certain parties,” but he wouldn’t diss Rock unless he really meant it. “To me, stand-up is the best when you’re being as close to the truth as possible," Walker explained.

“To me, the closer you can get to who you really are and how you really feel, the better the work will be,” Walker concluded. “So I try to stay as honest as possible.” 

Without further elaboration, we may never know what exactly Rock did to earn Walker’s ire during that doomed lunch date, especially because Walker is yet-unmarried. As for his future on SNL, Walker would only reveal that, “Talks are ongoing. Talks are ongoing.”

Well, on Friday, he might just get the final word.