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Saturday Night Live addressed the ongoing controversy at Cornell University with a joke — and it not-so-surprisingly left viewers divided.
Weekend Update co-host Michael Che started his segment on a serious note during Saturday’s episode as he addressed the civil lawsuit alleging that a woman was gang raped by seven students at a Cornell fraternity house in 2024 as “one of the big stories in the news this week.”
“Obviously we don’t want to make light of anything that happened, but it is a good time to talk about men holding other men accountable,” the 43-year-old comedian said before he jokingly targeted his co-host, Colin Jost.
As the camera panned to Jost, who stayed silent, Che said: “Look, we all have that one friend that seems like a nice guy, but they’re definitely not. It could be someone you’re close to, or someone you work with. Maybe you can’t prove anything. You can just look at him and tell those weird, privileged Ivy League types always got some messed up stuff going on.”
The audience laughed as Jost looked bewildered. After Che asked Jost if he wanted to add anything to the message, Jost responded, “What? Stop cutting to me.” Che quipped: “Don’t want to help women, cool.”
Although the in-studio audience seemed to get a laugh out of Che’s teasing, some viewers shared their criticisms of the segment on social media after the episode.
“Generally I don’t think making jokes about rape is remotely light-hearted, even if it’s not poking the victim, it’s literally humoring the rape itself,” one person wrote on X. Another added: “I didn’t appreciate Michael Che’s joke referencing the Cornell situation.”
“I think the reason this was so upsetting is the fact that they have handled serious issues in a non-offensive way before,” one person wrote. “But two men joking about a horrific rape case is just not funny! At all!”
However, other viewers praised the comedians for their handling of the heavy subject matter.
One person commented on the video on YouTube: “I’m an assault survivor and I loved how they handled the Cornell situation.”
“I personally think this was handled with tact,” someone wrote on X. “It’s perfectly possible to make jokes about upsetting, current, topical subject matter without punching down on the victims, and I think this joke did that well.”
Another added: “SNL’s Weekend Update on Cornell 7 just delivered me the biggest laugh and smile. It felt therapeutic.”
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
