Lil Nas X Reacts After Splitting His Pants Pole-Dancing on ‘SNL’: “OMFG NO”

Rapper Lil Nas X almost went X-rated on Saturday Night Live when he ripped his pants during a performance on the NBC sketch comedy show’s Saturday, May 22 episode. (You know, just in case you needed any further proof that SNL is, in fact, live.)

And Nas X’s mishap definitely wasn’t a stunt, as the Grammy winner clarified on Twitter. “I know I do a lot of planned s--t, but ripping my pants on live television is not one of them,” he tweeted on Sunday, May 23.

At first, all went according to plan. SNL host Anya Taylor-Joy introduced Nas X, he appeared on stage in a leather half-top and lace-up leather pants, and he started singing his hit “Montero (Call Me By Your Name),” surrounded by muscular back-up dancers.

Around the 2:20 mark of the performance, however, Nas X starts pole-dancing and splits his pants almost immediately. After dipping low just once, he notices his wardrobe malfunction with an expression of panic, but he gamely finishes the performance with his hand covering his crotch.

Later in the episode, Nas X returned for his second performance of the night, singing his new single “Sun Goes Down” — and without incident this time!

Nas X reacted to the wardrobe malfunction immediately on Twitter. “NOT MY PANTS RIPPED ON LIVE ON TV,” he tweeted moments afterward. In another tweet, he added, “OMFG NO.”

Ever the SpongeBob fan, the “Old Town Road” singer also retweeted a fan’s fitting screenshot from the SpongeBob SquarePants Season 1 episode “Ripped Pants.”

In a third post, he wrote, “I wanted to do my pole routine so bad, this what I get. LMAO.”

He also took to TikTok so that his followers could watch him relive the embarrassing wardrobe malfunction on live TV.

And he was still dwelling on the pant-rip on Sunday, tweeting, “At first, I was afraid to even perform. Then we rehearsed for two weeks. Then all of the dancers got removed because one had COVID, and new ones had to learn the routine in 24 hours. And then I ended up ripping my pants and couldn’t finish. Everything happens for a reason, though, LOL.”

He was still grateful for the experience, however. “Thank you, SNL, for my favorite night of my career! I love you!” he tweeted on Sunday.

Live television and quick costume changes can be a dangerous mix, and SNL is certainly no stranger to wardrobe malfunctions! 

In one of the funnier costume catastrophes, a wardrobe dresser got her timing wrong during the SNL Season 45 premiere in 2019 and started changing Aidy Bryant’s blazer too early, before realizing she was on screen and scurrying off the set.

Cut to: Aidy, Cicely Strong, Kenan Thompson, and host Woody Harrelson cracking up during the rest of the sketch.

In a Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon appearance a few months later, Aidy recalled the calamity. “I was looking in the monitor, being like, ‘That’s Audrey! Audrey’s on camera!’ but I could also feel her there, and someone yelled ‘No!’” she said. “It cut back to me and I knew that I had the most straightest, most serious line, and I was like, ‘Cool, I have to get through this serious-ass line.’ knowing my dresser, Audrey, was just onstage.”