SNL Star and Cristian Rivera Foundation Committee Member Kenan Thompson honored Vanessa Bayer at Gilda’s Club NYC 24th Annual Gala and attended this year’s11th Annual CRF Celebrity Gala

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Former “SNL” comic Vanessa Bayer says you’ve got to laugh off cancer . . . and use it as an excuse to get out of things you hate.

Bayer, who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 15, gave advice on how to handle a diagnosis while being honored at the Gilda’s Club gala Thursday, saying “This is just a chapter, this is just one piece of your life,” and that “you should use cancer to get out of anything you don’t want to do. I mean, thank you, gym class, phone calls, I used to go to school late.” She said a young man she met with cancer “whispered in my ear, ‘I used it to get out of French class.’ And I had never been prouder.”

Bayer’s “SNL” pal Kenan Thompson presented her with the award. We hear he will also help raise money for pediatric brain cancer research at the Cristian Rivera Foundation fund-raiser Wednesday.

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