“Saturday Night Live” came in for criticism on Monday over a Weekend Update joke about Charlie Sheen.
In a piece for “Into” — a news website owned by the gay dating app Grindr — author Matthew Rodriguez said hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che “threw people with HIV under the bus,” with the cheap shot at Sheen.
“Che was making a joke about Brett’s supposed alcoholism and, somehow, made people with HIV the butt of the joke,” wrote Rodriguez, who added that the joke “reifies the worst stigmas against people living with HIV, namely that they are unworthy of love and physical affection.”
The joke, as Rodriguez says, began with a crack at Brett Kavanaugh.
“I don’t know if Mr. Kavanaugh actually has a history of assault or if he actually has a drinking problem, but I do know that he might,” said Che. “And you shouldn’t be on the Supreme Court if you might. You shouldn’t be on the People’s Court if you might.”
“Sometimes ‘might’ is enough,” he continued building to the punch lines. “I don’t want to pet your dog if he might bite me. I don’t want to leave you in my house if you might be a crackhead. I’m not going to have sex with you if you might have dated Charlie Sheen.”
Reps for the show did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
The Weekend Update sketch from Jost and Che largely went unnoticed in the Sunday coverage, which primarily focused on a blistering cold open lampooning Kavanaugh. In a sketch that came together just hours before the show, Matt Damon delivered what was widely hailed as knockout impersonation of the judge and his sometimes angry, sometimes weepy demeanor.
SNL regular Kate McKinnon also displayed her versatility during the sketch with a supporting appearance as a blustering Senator Lindsey Graham.