Kenan Thompson on Pete Davidson Revealing ‘SNL’ Starting Salary: “You Gotta Pay Your Dues”

After Pete Davidson recently revealed what his starting salary was for Saturday Night Live, Kenan Thompsonhas spoken a bit more about how pay rates go when it comes to new cast members of the longtime TV sketch show.

“I think I got dinner,” he added.

Jason Sudekeis, who also appeared in the video, seemed to second that, saying, “I mean, you don’t make enough money to make big purchases, so I think New York rent was probably the biggest purchase I made after writing my first year on SNL.”

While speaking with Variety at the American Museum of Natural History gala on Thursday night, Thompson spoke about SNLstarting salaries.

“It’s pretty notorious that it’s more so about having the job than getting paid for the job,” Thomspon said. “You gotta pay your dues a little bit, yeah.”

Thompson declined to give Variety specific salary numbers.

The former Kenan & Kelstar is the longest-serving cast member on SNLsince joining in 2003, having done 22 seasons on the sketch show.