Chris Redd has decided to share his side of the story regarding the origins of his relationship with Christina Evangeline, ex-wife of former Saturday Night Live castmate Kenan Thompson.
In a video posted on Instagram on Tuesday (Jan. 6), an emotional Redd revealed he struggled with "some pills issues" during his time at SNL from 2017 to 2022. "While I was at the show, I had some pills issues, I got some pill problems, nothing too crazy, but crazy for my Black ass, you know?" he said.
Redd credited Evangeline with being "the only one to call me on my shit, help me with my shit," while also helping him on his therapy journey.
The comedian said they "fell in love" during this time, even though he admittedly "felt bad from the start."
"I really appreciate everybody for the love, kind messages and all. I can’t go back and forth with every mean message but the homewrecker narrative just isn’t true," he wrote in the comments underneath the video. "Regardless of what you may feel about the situation, cheating was never the case. They weren’t together and had not been for years when we started. Not taking away anything I said but felt this needed some clarification."
Redd called the situation an "emotional double-edged sword" because he loved working with Thompson and felt like they worked well together, but also hated "doing something to somebody that I know would hurt them."
Redd and Thompson were not only castmates on SNL, but they played brothers on the short-lived sitcom Kenan.
Thompson field for divorce from Evangeline in 2022 after 1 1 years of marriage. Sources told TMZ at the time that, prior to filing, they had been separated for "over a year," and were successfully co-parenting their two children while working on separate coasts.
"I did choose love, and that's what this story is," Redd explained. "And it made me look terrible. It made me look terrible to people I love and a lot of my fans."
Redd said he and Thompson "talked about it, and we were cool, and we continued to work together for a year after," but everything changed when people found out about the relationship.
"I was in love, and I was spiraling out," he said. "That's what happened, and by the time everybody found out, the world found out, I was out of there, SNL, you know?"