Saturday Night Live comedian Michael Che is receiving social media backlash after making a joke about Keeping Up With the Kardashians star Caitlyn Jenner on last Saturday’s episode. Now, many fans of the show are accusing him of being transphobic.
While on the Weekend Update segment, Che jokes about Kanye West “turning into an old white lady” now that he’s planning on re-releasing his old songs with more appropriate lyrics.
“He used to be one of the coolest black dudes on earth, now he’s showing up to events in sweatpants and orthopedic sneakers,” he says to laughter. “How long before this guy changes his name to Kathy?” he asks.
He goes on to sheepishly say “You might think I’m crazy but about five years ago there was a fellow named Bruce Jenner and he moved to Calabasas...” while his co-host Colin Jost cringes and the audience seems uncomfortable, with a few groans heard for good measure. He’s referencing when Caitlyn Jenner came out as transgender in 2015.
Now, viewers are voicing their opinions on Twitter and many aren’t pleased with the joke - however, some believe that he did nothing wrong and that people are getting too touchy about comedy.
One person wrote, "man, the people getting mad at Michael Che would have a f***ing aneurism watching a norm macdonald weekend update," while another said, "michael che is funny af."
Others are calling for him to be fired, saying that his presence makes the show both transphobic and misogynistic.
It's unclear if SNL will respond to the online criticism - they acted fast when they fired Canadian comedian Shane Gillis before he even appeared on the show for making racist and homophobic remarks.
