The laughs were few and far between during a sketch from Saturday Night Live over the weekend that tackled the aftermath of the Jussie Smollett story.
Featuring host Sandra Oh as Jussie’s agent, the three-minute skit (it feels like 10 minutes at least) imagines a meeting at the Empire office in which Smollett, cleared from all legal charges after allegedly faking a hate crime, attempts to secure his job playing Jamal Lyon, the out musician and middle son of the Lyon family.
The entire skit is a riff on the boy who cried wolf. Jussie is late for the meeting and launches into an excuse as to why. You already know where this is going.
Related: All charges against Jussie Smollett have been dropped
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“Guys, you are not going to believe what just happened to me,” Smollett, played by Chris Redd in a MAGA hat, says. “I got attacked again!”
Then he starts pulling out “clues” from a plastic bag that prove he’s telling the truth, while saying things like, “You can’t fire me, I made this show, man. I’m the gay Lee Daniels!”
“Jussie, I’m the gay Lee Daniels,” replies Kenan Thompson as the famed producer in one of the only sort-of funny moments.
We’re not saying the Smollett saga should be off-limits to satire — we need to process it all somehow, and comedy can certainly help dissolve tension around a painful topic.
Related: Now Jussie Smollett’s lawyer says his attackers may have been wearing whiteface
But the skit felt much more awkward than insightful, opting to paint Smollet as a clown-like, pathological liar rather than reaching for any kernel of truth from the psychology of what would make Smollett decide to do what he allegedly did.
Of course, that truth is exactly what’s left everyone who followed the story so baffled, so it’s not exactly an easy target.
Still, it’s one SNL missed.
Watch below:
madridstangelo
You guys are ridiculous. The skit WASN’T THAT BAD…and SNL isn’t obliged, in any way, to offer insight into the pathos of Mr. Smollett, by way of it’s satire, or commentary. Of course, the skit could have been shorter..they could have just opened the skit with a single framed image with the word LIAR superimposed over it, and then moved on to another skit.
GentlemanCaller
Thing is, Queerty, Smollet IS “a clown-like, pathological liar” and deserves no serious contemplation of is Issues or motivation. So the skit wasn’t especially funny, because humor is usually derived from overstatement and here it was just, well, restating the obvious.
Brian
“But the skit felt much more awkward than insightful, opting to paint Trump as a clown-like, pathological liar rather than reaching for any kernel of truth from the psychology of what would make Trump decide to do what he allegedly did”
Does this help you see what an idiotic statement this is Dan? It’s freaking SNL. They always go for the low hanging fruit.
DuMaurier
I didn’t see it, so I have no idea if it was ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But yes, Queerty’s ponderously heavy requirements for how comedy skits should work doesn’t have anything to do with SNL, or, I might add, comedy itself.
Brian
I didn’t watch it either. It’s SNL so I just assume it was terrible.
mr guy
THIS site is the joke. How awkward as hell
Heywood Jablowme
I just watched the clip and it’s mildly funny. Crest White Strips, yeah that’s obviously racist!
MuslimSlutBox
Maybe the whole Jussie thing has just gotten tired. Obviously he has taken a major dump on his career and reminding him might be the best part of this. All he talks about is “getting back to work”, yet he doesn’t seem to realize that his work doesn’t want him there anymore. I cringe when I think of how he had it all, the looks, the fame, the money and yet he wasn’t satisfied with a situation that anybody would be thrilled to have. I guess he’s mentally ill.