Tracy Morgan A No-Show At ‘SNL’ Anniversary Show, Gets A Shoutout

Tracy Morgan was notably absent from Sunday night’s 40th anniversary bash for Saturday Night Live, and while it’s not clear exactly what his condition is, old friends Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey paid tribute to him and his work on the iconic show after wishing that he could have been there.

“I wish my friend Tracy Morgan was here tonight, and I know that he was hoping that he would be well enough to be here too,” Tina Fey said.

Morgan, who suffered a brutal car accident in June when the limo he was riding in was hit by a semi truck, has been recovering from a broken nose, leg, and ribs, as well as a brain injury. The accident resulted in the death of Morgan’s friend, comedian Jimmy McNair, and is the subject of a lawsuit against Walmart, the owner of the truck.

Fey and Baldwin gave a shoutout to their old 30 Rock friend before introducing a clip featuring Morgan as one of his most beloved SNL characters.

Tracy’s lawyer, Benedict Morelli, said late last year that Morgan wouldn’t be making public appearances for quite a while due to the severity of his injuries, and said it’s unknown if he will be the same after he recovers.

“He’s fighting to get better, and if there’s a chance for him to be back to the Tracy Morgan he once was, he’s going to try to do that. But we just don’t know because of the severity of the injuries that he sustained and the fact that he had such a severe brain injury,” Morelli said.

As for the lawsuit, it could be quite a while before anything is resolved. Morgan and McNair’s family members initiated the suit against Walmart, saying they allowed the driver to keep traveling without adequate rest, but Walmart shot back with allegations that the passengers in the limo were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

Tracy Morgan’s last film before the crash was a project with his friend Chris Rock called Top Five, which was released in December and got great reviews after its release at the Toronto Film Festival. Rock gave an update on Morgan’s condition during an interview with USA Today while promoting the film, saying he was trying to get better.

“He’s OK. I saw him not too long ago. He doesn’t live too far from me. I went by his house and showed him a copy of the movie. He was very happy. He’s got physical therapists. There’s a lot of rehab going on. He’s traumatized — his friend died. It’s Tracy — not the most stable guy in the world to begin with.”

[Photo courtesy of Theo Wargo/Getty Images]