I tend to avoid covering Michael Che directly. I’ve read and seen the horror stories about how he treats women (and only women) who are mildly critical of him. I’ve read his terrible opinions about dumpster fire predators. And I’ve heard the “jokes” he tells on Saturday Night Live, where he “co-anchors” the Weekend Update desk with Colin Jost. Che’s jokes are usually the worst, and just last week, he misgendered Caitlyn Jenner as a “joke.” As in, that was the joke, that Caitlyn Jenner used to be a man. But how dare you say “that’s not a funny joke” or “stop punching down on marginalized people, you f–king a–hole.” Because then Michael Che will come after you online. It’s all very incel-y. Anyway, Che was at it again for this past weekend’s SNL/Weekend Update. Here’s the clip. I’ve cued it up to the “joke.”
Michael Che is in hot water once again. Just one week after the comedian sparked backlash for referring to Caitlyn Jenner as a “fella” on Saturday Night Live, he was slammed on Twitter for making a joke during Weekend Update that many fans deemed ageist and sexist.
Che, 36, said that a woman who gave birth at the age of 67 “set a record for most friction,” which earned both laughs and groans from the audience.
“See, you guys don’t realize this but that joke took me like four hours to write,” he said. “I had much better punchlines but the fellas at NBC standards said they were all too dirty.”
Che continued: “Like, at first I was gonna say, ‘Well I hope that kid likes his milk chalky!’ But they said, ‘You can’t say that on TV.’ It was my second favorite punchline! My first favorite being, ‘She can breastfeed just by standing over the crib.’ That’s a good one, right? Nope, NBC said, ‘Too gross,’ which is ridiculous. Too gross would be like if I said, ‘Doctors described the birth as pulling a penny out of a wad of gum. Now that would be too gross. Even I wouldn’t tell that joke on TV.”
To be clear, Michael Che is exactly the kind of comic who complains about “cancel culture.” So I’m not saying he’s canceled. That would imply that I gave a sh-t about him enough to consciously ignore him. What I will say is that there are so many interesting, funny comics working today. There are so many great comedians and comedy writers who don’t need to deadname, misgender, or riff on network television about how old vadges are gross to be “funny.”
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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