“SNL’s” Kenan Thompson Stops Playing Black Female Characters

Dana Edelson/NBC(NEW YORK) — Kenan Thompson of Saturday Night Live says he’s done playing female characters because the show hasn’t hired a black woman to join the cast in six years.

Thompson, who regularly plays Whoopi Goldberg, told TV Guide he expects Jay Pharaoh, the cast’s only other black member, to start playing more women “but even he doesn’t really want to do it.”

Thompson, 35, stopped short of blaming the show’s executive producer, Lorne Michaels, saying the problem wasn’t with the shows leadership but a lack of talented black female comics.

“It’s just a tough part of the business,” Thompson said. “Like in auditions, they just never find ones that are ready.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio