Tracy Morgan feels grateful to have made it to Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary celebration.
“This is incredible,” Morgan, 56, told actor and comedian Matt Rogers during the SNL50: The Red Carpet special on Sunday, Feb. 16. “Just thank the Lord that I’m a part of this, that I survived the accident and I’m alive to be here for this.”
In June 2014, a Walmart truck hit Morgan’s limo from behind while speeding on the New Jersey Turnpike. Morgan broke his leg and was in a coma for two weeks after the accident, which killed his collaborator and mentor James McNair and left others injured. The comedian was in a wheelchair for five months and later, had to relearn how to speak and walk.
“I want to say to everyone who was in the van with me that night I love you, and we miss you, Uncle Jimmy Mac and God bless your family,” Morgan told PEOPLE on the 10th anniversary of his accident in June 2024. “And to the driver that night and his family, me and my comrades forgive you.”
Kevin Roper, the Walmart driver behind the wheel on the night of Morgan’s accident, hadn’t slept in 28 hours when he crashed into the 30 Rock alum. According to the Associated Press at the time, Roper had nine “critical event reports” in the 15 weeks he’d worked for the company. The reports kept track of hard braking, activation of the vehicle’s stability control system and other instances that point to unsafe driving.
Roper accepted a plea deal in November 2016 that required him to complete 300 hours of community service for all the charges to be dismissed and to avoid trial for the crash. Walmart settled a lawsuit with McNair’s two children in January 2015 and settled with Morgan that May. It had been reported at the time that Walmart paid Morgan $90 million, but Morgan’s attorney Benedict Morelli told CBS Mornings, “It’s not even close to the number.”
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Morgan served as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2003.
“The greatest memory ever was Lorne Michaels picking me to be a cast member,” he told Rogers, 34, on Feb. 16. “Greatest. Can’t beat that.”
Morgan also shared with Rogers how he came up with the idea for a memorable line he said during Jamie Foxx’s 2000 monologue.
“I just think of it and I just … the main word is ‘what if?’” the Emmy nominee said. “And that’s how I got the idea. Me and Lorne Michaels was in the elevator alone, we were alone. he was standing behind me and we were going up to the 17th floor and I was smiling and I was thinking about it. And then when I got off the floor, I told somebody, ‘Give me a soda, bitch!’ And that’s where it came from.”
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SNL50: The Anniversary Special airs Sunday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
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