Michaels said he canned him midseason because “it had to be done,” EW noted. Before his unauthorized improv, Wayans said in the doc he was warned by “SNL” great Eddie Murphy that as a Black man he would be pigeonholed into certain characters, so he’d better write his own, Deadline reported.

Damon Wayans revealed how he 'purposely' got himself fired from 'Saturday Night Live' after going off script during a sketch: 'I just did not care.'

Damon Wayans is opening up on the circumstances surrounding his firing from “Saturday Night Live” in 1986, admitting he “purposely” got himself canned.

Damon Wayans is opening up about his short stint on Saturday Night Live and the sketch that got him fired from the NBC late-night sketch show.

Wayans is one of many funny people looking back at the weekly late-night staple's place in comedy history in the Peacock docuseries SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night. Recalling his time on season 11 in the fourth episode, “Season 11: The Weird Year," Wayans said he didn't feel a lot of nerves about auditioning or making the cast — at first.

The comedian looks back on "purposely" jeopardizing his position due to frustrations with creative direction in a docuseries on the sketch comedy.