"It just started to pile up" — Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson opens up about silent struggle before GERD diagnosis

On April 4, 2025, Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson spoke about his recent medical diagnosis in an exclusive interview with People magazine. Before discovering he had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), the longtime comedian disclosed that he had been coping with health problems in silence for more than two years.

When Thompson was 44 years old, he first started to have voice strain and heartburn, especially after eating acidic foods.

He found that working on Saturday Night Live made the performance environment even more difficult because his voice would deteriorate more quickly than usual. Thompson's discomfort persisted despite his initial attempts to control it with over-the-counter drugs and dietary changes. Reflecting on how the condition progressed:

“And that can definitely add more stress to an already stressful kind of environment doing a live show like that. So all of those factors, I was like whatever, I'll get over it. But it just started to pile up,” Thompson shared.

The eventual diagnosis helped him understand what he had been experiencing and take steps toward proper treatment.

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Facing health challenges while working on Saturday Night Live

Kenan Thompson explained that the symptoms of GERD started interfering with his work on Saturday Night Live. As someone who regularly performs live, Thompson began noticing the physical toll during and after tapings.

“I noticed that I would get hoarse a lot easier when I'm doing the show,” he said.

The frequent acid reflux led to discomfort that made his workdays harder to manage. The symptoms included hoarseness, sleeplessness, and repeated acid burping.

“I was able to take something and patch it up for the moment, but I got to a point where that didn't work anymore,” he shared.

Saturday Night Live star Thompson admitted he did not initially feel the need to speak to a doctor, partly because he didn’t realise how serious it had become.

“I don't know if I was necessarily embarrassed to talk to a doctor — I just didn't know if I needed to,” he shared.

Kenan's symptoms were at their worst in early 2024, which finally pushed him to seek professional help. A doctor diagnosed him with GERD, and he learned that it was a common yet underdiagnosed condition.

Once diagnosed, Thompson began treatment, including a prescription for Voquezna, an FDA-approved potassium competitive acid blocker that provided immediate relief. His condition improved significantly after that.

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Spreading awareness through humor

After his diagnosis, Kenan Thompson partnered with Phathom Pharmaceuticals for the GERD IS NO JOKE campaign to raise awareness about GERD. Using humor as a tool, he played a chef in a fictional segment titled Kick Some Acid Cooking Show.

“It’s nice to throw some humor into it because I like to have fun and a little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down,” he explained.

Saturday Night Live star Thompson believed that incorporating a character into the message would make it easier for audiences to relate to the topic. He shared that he was aware people might not take a medication campaign seriously at first, so his goal was to ease into the subject with a familiar tone.

“Sometimes you have to massage your way into it a little bit and just be like, alright, don't freak out everybody, I'm doing a medication ad,” he said.

Now, Thompson says he feels better and is taking steps to manage his health. He’s made changes to his daily habits and diet and is using his platform to help others do the same. “God bless, I feel great,” he said.

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The next episode of Saturday Night Live will air on April 12, 2025, on NBC.