‘Saturday Night Live’ mocks Baftas racial slur incident in new sketch
Saturday Night Live has poked fun at the Baftas following the racial slur incident at the ceremony last week.
Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson, who was the inspiration for I Swear, which saw Robert Aramayo win the Bafta for ‘Best Actor’, involuntarily shouted the N-word in the direction of Sinners stars Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan during the British film ceremony.
Davidson has since said that he is “deeply mortified if anyone considers my involuntary tics to be intentional or to carry any meaning”.
He also later explained, “I would appreciate reports of the event explaining that I ticked perhaps 10 different offensive words on the night of the awards. The N-word was one of these, and I completely understand its significance in history and in the modern world, but most articles are giving the impression I shouted one single slur on Sunday.”
Now, Saturday Night Live have taken on the subject with a new sketch, titled ‘Tourette’s’, which began with an explanation that it can make people involuntarily say things which they don’t mean.
Then, a flurry of cancelled celebrities arrived on the screen to blame their past public misdemeanours on tourette’s.
It began with a parody version of Mel Gibson telling viewers, “I suffer from tourette’s, which explains a lot of the stuff that I’ve said or yelled through the years. Am I proud of what I said? No. But I’m very proud of you to know it was because of tourette’s, and unfortunately, I’m not alone.”
Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie, who hosted Saturday Night Live, also portrayed Armie Hammer, and said in character, “Hi cuties, I’m Armie Hammer, and not many people know this, but one of the most common side effects is cannibalism. You could be casually DMing with a girl, and suddenly, the tourettes takes over, and you’re typing stuff like, ‘I’m literally going to eat you’, and she’s like, ‘Lol, what?’.”
The parody of Hammer continued, “But since it’s tourette’s, I guess I have to be forgiven if not celebrated. Thanks, medicine.”
A parody version of JK Rowling later said in the sketch, “Tourette’s isn’t just blurting out an offensive word, it can be years long obsession with something like trans rights, and a deep anger that someone who is born with a wand in their pants would want that wand removed and replaced with a horcrux. But, now you know, it was all the tourette’s fault, and not a bet I made with Bill Belichick to see who could destroy their legacy faster.”
Other cancelled figures from the entertainment industry that Saturday Night Live parodied as part of the segment include Bill Cosby, Louis CK, and Kanye West.
The sketch ended by stating it was “brought to you by the National Worksforce of Rethinking Disabalties”, which can be acronymised to N-word.
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