‘Saturday Night Live’ star Michael Che responds to complaints following Super Bowl gambling advert
Saturday Night Live’s Michael Che has responded after he faced complaints for appearing in a gambling advert at the Super Bowl.
Along with his Weekend Update co-host, Colin Jost, Che appeared in a commercial for sports betting company DraftKings, which aired during the first quarter of the NFL season finale.
The comical 30-second skit sees the pair of Saturday Night Live stars pretend to be recording the advert live, but over the course of the advert, it becomes abundantly clear that it’s a pre-recorded segment rather than being filmed at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
In 2023, DraftKings previously lined up Kevin Hart, David Ortiz, Emmitt Smith, Ludacris, Julius Erving, Lisa Leslie, The Undertaker and Tony Hawk for their Super Bowl advert.
Che and Jost have since been criticised on social media for participating in the advert, which promotes a harmful product.
Taking to Instagram Stories, after it aired, Che explained his decision to team up with DraftKings, honestly stating, “Look, I got a mortgage. OK.”
In a later post, Che also provided his thoughts on Bad Bunny’s triumphant halftime show at the Super Bowl, writing, “Lol this is what white people were so freaked out about…?”
While Jost has promoted the advert with Che for DraftKings on social media, he has yet to acknowledge the criticism that the duo have faced.
Another controversial advert that aired during the Super Bowl was the latest promotional video for Elon Musk’s Starlink, which was soundtracked by the LCD Soundsystem track ‘Oh Baby’.
LCD Soundsystem have a history of allowing their songs to be used in advertisements, previously soundtracking eBay and Samsung adverts. However, due to Musk’s right-wing politics and his alignment with the Donald Trump regime, the Starlink advert is the most controversial use of an LCD Soundsystem song in a campaign so far.
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