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Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell have been in and around Hollywood for decades, and if there’s one thing they’ve learned, it’s to be careful about searching yourself on the internet. While they’ve managed to find separate career paths after becoming a comedy duo in their younger years, they still have similar viewpoints about advising against looking too deeply into others’ opinions.
In addition to Thompson’s return to Saturday Night Live later in the 2026 TV schedule, both men spoke to People about their upcoming video game, Orange Pop. It’s there that the conversation about “Googling” oneself came up, and while Kenan admitted he’s prone to do it “very randomly,” Mitchell explained why he stopped doing it:
You don’t love to see that much influx of people’s opinions on you, or just stories and a lot of made-up numbers around you and stuff. There’s all kinds of craziness. It’ll mess with you. I stopped doing it. I used to, but I had to stop doing that. You’ve got to.
I get it, especially given the amount of intrigue as to why Kenan and Kel only work together on an occasional basis after seemingly being inseparable in their early careers. Rumors stirred there was a feud tied to SNL, though Thompson said it was more them naturally growing apart, thanks in part to life and wanting to be seen as individuals.
Thompson chimed in and agreed, even though he confessed that he still would look himself up. He added there’s one component to looking yourself up as a celebrity, and how it could ultimately impact your career:
It’ll mess with your head, what you hear. You don’t like stuff like that to mess with your head.
While I’m upset this means the two actors never read CinemaBlend’s piece on rewatching Kenan & Kel as an adult, I can respect both wanting to avoid looking up what others say and feeling compelled to react to them. An actor responding to a critique can sometimes cause controversy, even if they’re within their rights to feel upset about the criticism.
Kenan & Kel are teaming up again in the near future, with an upcoming movie in which their beloved television characters meet a legendary horror icon. Kenan & Kel Meet Frankenstein is set to go into production in the summer, as the 2026 movie schedule rolls on. I’m excited to see how that movie turns out, especially after being a little let down by Good Burger 2. Fun cameos aside, it’ll be nice to see them in a new plotline that isn’t beholden to any previous works.
Before that, they’re promoting Orange Pop!, which is a mobile puzzle game that serves as a tribute to Kel’s famous orange soda obsession. Anyone who is a fan of mobile games and loves seeing the duo reunited will get a kick out of the voice lines and callbacks to their on-screen friendship.
Those looking to watch Kenan & Kel can do so right now by downloading Pluto TV and watching it for free. It’s what I intend to do, but I may need to stop by the store first for some orange soda to have with it.