Questlove Was A Surprise Guest On ‘Abbott Elementary,’ Coming Through In The Clutch For Principal Ava

In the few short years of Abbott Elementary‘s award-winning run on television, the show has already had an impressive slate of guest stars, including Vince Staples, Zack Fox, Philadelphia 76ers star Andre Iguodala, Philly area native Bradley Cooper, and even Flyers mascot Gritty. The latest Philadelphian celebrity to feature on the show? None other than The Roots’ Questlove, who popped up to support Ava-fest, Janelle James’ principal character’s narcisstic spin on open house. Amir came through in the clutch for Ava after she built up her legend as a close personal friend of the drummer who credited herself for co-founding the Roots — much to her coworkers’ skeptical chagrin.

Quest’s appearance came during a season in which the show’s profile has skyrocketed; in addition to Cooper, other well-known celebrities to stop by the fictional elementary school this season have included legendary actress Cree Summer — a major influence on television as the voice of basically every Black cartoon character of the ’90s and early 2000s — Tatyana Ali, best known for her role as Ashley on The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, and Eagles players Jason Kelce, Jalen Hurts, and Brandon Graham, who appeared in the season premiere via video chat for a failed romantic bid by a supporting character.

Questlove seemed pretty amused by the flurry of messages he received when the episode aired on the east coast, and social media was flooded with fans’ delight at his much-teased, semi-unlikely (but pretty much guaranteed) appearance. Now, we just need to see about getting Sexyy Red that cameo…

Abbott Elementary airs on Wednesdays at 9 pm on ABC.