Disgraced singer and songwriter R. Kelly received yet another hefty prison sentence earlier this week. On Thursday (February 23), Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for child pornography charges which will run concurrently with his 30-year sentence for sex trafficking and racketeering. Kelly’s former manager, Donnell Russell, was also sentenced to serve one year in prison for making a threat to shoot someone at a Lifetime screening of the Surviving R. Kelly documentary.
With it being such a sensitive topic, you’d think comedians wouldn’t attempt to tackle that even in a padded suit, but not SNL’s Coin Jost and Michael Che. During last night’s Weekend Update skit, the pair took it a step further, making the sentencing the butt of the joke in Che’s newly introduced segment, What Did They Even Do Wrong. The miniature skit aims to comedically define wrongdoings by public figures.
When the pair reached the pair discussed the recent sentencing of Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly, Che, says, “I mean mainly they’re guilty of loving too much, right. A player’s gotta play,” before turning it to the audience for laughter, “Am I right, ladies?”
The YouTube comments were filled with viewers praising the new addition to the segment, writing, “OMG on Michael Che’s new segment – what did they even do wrong – too funny. Looking forward to them posting the whole Weekend Update in its entirety on Monday morning. Even funnier that way.”
However, on other social media sites, such as Twitter, users were not pleased by the joke. One user wrote, “When will they take Michael Che off Weekend Update? He’s not funny & neither was that Weinstein/R. Kelly ‘joke.’”
When will they take Michael Che off Weekend Update? He’s not funny & neither was that Weinstein/R. Kelly “joke” #SNL
— Susan (@misshmhm) February 26, 2023
Watch the full skit above.