Kenan Thompson has been making people laugh, basically my entire life.
That’s been his job since he was a kid on Nickelodeon, cracking jokes on “All That” and “Kenan & Kel” before becoming the face of “Saturday Night Live” for over two decades. But behind all those laughs was a financial nightmare that almost derailed everything.
On the latest episode of the SoFi’s Richer Lives podcast with Vivian Tu, aka Your Rich BFF, Thompson got real about something a lot of child stars deal with but don’t always speak on: what happens when the people you trust with your money turn out to be the ones you should’ve run from.
Thompson got his start in the early 90s. His first big break was a fried chicken commercial at 12 that paid him $800. In the episode, he remembers thinking it felt like $10,000 at the time (imagine what you could have done with $800 in the early 90s?). But while the checks were coming in, nobody was really preparing him for what fame actually meant or how to protect what he was earning.
“I wish I understood what fame was…I like to just be a normal person,” Thompson told Tu. “It would be nice to experience life a little more, not necessarily unseen, but unbothered. It’s a double-edged sword because it is my passion, my performances, my blood, sweat and tears. I am doing these things for the sake of a positive reaction from people. At the same time, it gets a little intrusive. It’s an interesting paradox that I wish somebody would have had a conversation about what to expect.”
That lack of preparation extended to his finances, too. When an accountant came into the picture asking for power of attorney, Thompson and his family didn’t see the red flags. He was young, he hadn’t studied business, and giving someone that kind of control seemed practical at the time.
“I was still a kid and I hadn’t gone to business school. Here he comes and he wanted a power of attorney. We signed it and gave it to him. That was kind of like falling off a cliff without us really knowing it. Because there is some validity to it because it allows him to make a lot decisions without having to come and ask me every little thing,” Thompson explained.
Then he added something every young person building wealth needs to hear: “In a good person’s hands, it makes sense, but I don’t think you ever really need to give anybody power of yourself, especially power of attorney.”
The full scope of the damage became clear when Thompson tried to buy a house in Atlanta after wrapping up his Nickelodeon deal. The accountant was supposed to show up to closing with the money. He never came. And just like that, Thompson realized his entire $1.5 million Nickelodeon check had vanished.
“I had to file for bankruptcy. It took a long time to fix my credit,” he said.
For a lot of former child stars, that kind of loss is where things fall apart. For Thompson, it wasn’t. He got back up and started over, this time keeping his eyes wide open.
“I didn’t think my purpose was to fall apart over that situation. It fortified me. I just rebuilt over time, long and steady,” he said. And now? “I definitely watch my money every day.”
That betrayal also explains why Thompson has stayed put at “SNL” for 23 years, breaking records and becoming one of the show’s most beloved cast members. He needed the stability.
“It was like a two and a half year period of uncertainty. That’s the life of an actor, which is why I’ve been doing SNL for 23 years. I know the importance of holding on to steady work.”
What Thompson went through is something too many entertainers, especially Black artists who started young, have experienced. The people who are supposed to protect you end up being the ones who take advantage. But thankfully, Thompson came out on the other side. He learned from it, kept working, and built something that couldn’t be taken away. That’s why he’s still here, still making us laugh, and still watching his money every single day.