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Lorne Michaels Helped Keith Richards Dodge Life in Prison

Lorne Michaels testified as a character witness on Keith Richards' behalf as the Stones guitarist faced serious drug charges in Canada in 1978.

Two weeks after the Rolling Stones hosted Saturday Night Live in 1978, Lorne Michaels served as a character witness for Keith Richards as the guitarist battled a drug charge in Canada that could’ve put him in jail for life. While Richards’ drug trial in Canada is a well-known chapter in his wild life, Michaels’ small part in the saga is detailed in Susan Morrison’s new biography, Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday NightLive(via an excerpt in Entertainment Weekly). When the Stones hosted (and served as musical guest) on SNL ’s Season Four premiere, two of Richards’ skits were cut in rehearsal after he “didn’t appear to know where he was,” per Morrison’s book.

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