Kanye West let the TODAY anchors finish, but not before crashing their red-carpet broadcast leading up to "Saturday Night Live's" 40th anniversary special.
As the pre-show credits rolled and Matt Lauer signed off from just outside Studio 8H on Sunday night, West — who's been known to crash an awards show acceptance speech or two — grabbed the anchor's mic, turned toward the camera and smiled.
Though viewers may have thought the exchange was planned since Matt played the moment off like a pro, the next morning the TODAY anchors laughed about the moment and revealed it was just as much a surprise to them as the audience.
"None of us saw this coming," Carson Daly said Monday. "It was a great moment. You know, he walked by us with Kim [Kardashian] as we were just about to go live, and we were all like, 'That'd be funny if you—' but then he left, and sure enough, he came back when we were live."
The "SNL40" special itself also yielded its share of memorable Kanye moments. In addition to performing a medleyof "Jesus Walks," "Only One" and "Wolves," West hilariously popped up (and sat back down) in Mike Myers and Dana Carvey's "Wayne's World" sketch.
Some of the TODAY anchors' favorites were "Celebrity Jeopardy," with Will Ferrell reprising his bemused Alex Trebek impersonation; a Jane Curtin, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler-helmed Weekend Update featuring Melissa McCarthy as Chris Farley's motivational-speaker character Matt Foley; and Jerry Seinfeld's Q&A with audience members Michael Douglas, Larry David, Ellen Cleghorne, Bob Odenkirk, Dakota Johnson, John Goodman, Tim Meadows, James Franco and Sarah Palin.
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