Saturday Night Live’s 50th season premiered this weekend as part of the 2024 TV schedule and, with it came a slew of big-name cameos, including the return of Maya Rudulph’s Vice President Kamala Harris impression. Jean Smart served as the host, kicking off the monumental season with a bang. Meanwhile, cast member Bowen Yang made headlines for what's since become a controversial Weekend Update appearance. Yang was accused of mocking singer Chappell Roan and has now responded to the backlash.
For those who haven’t streamed the premiere with a Peacock subscription, Bowen Yang joined Colin Jost’s side of the Weekend Update desk on Saturday. Dressed in a hippo costume, the comedian took on the role of Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus from Thailand that went viral in September. The sketch revolved around Moo talking about the pressures she’s been under while trying to establish boundaries between herself and her fans. Many noticed that the speech was similar to one Chappell Roan gave her own fans earlier this month.
Roan devotees subsequently took to social media, criticizing the sketch comedy show and the Fire Island alum for seemingly making fun of the songstress' honesty and desire to protect herself. The Wicked star took to Instagram to defend himself from the criticism he received following the broadcast. On his IG story, he shared a screenshot of an article claiming he “mocked” the singer and captioned it:
Oh geez. “Mocks”??? If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting her, then there it is I guess. Everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable, and even then, we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever. Needing the hose rn….
Via his post, Bowen Yang showed support for the LGBTQ+ pop singer. He also did so in the sketch, during which he (acting as Moo Deng) implored everyone to leave the "Pink Pony Club" singer alone. It's also worth noting that Yang interviewed the pop singer in August for Interview Magazine.
The star's comments would seem to suggest that this is a case of social commentary disguised as a joke going over some people’s heads. What should also be further clarified is that Chappell Roan’s fans seemingly weren't mad at the sketch as a whole but at parts of it — like Moo Deng’s refusal to endorse a Presidential candidate. (Roan made headlines last week for voicing her election opinions.)
Neither Chappell Roan nor her team have commented on the sketch, as of this writing. With the pop star slated to appear as a musical guest later this season, it’ll be interesting to see if she and Bowen Yang address the criticism together in a cheeky way or choose to move forward without doing so.
Saturday Night Live returns with Nate Bargazte as host and musical guest Coldplay on October 5th at 11:30pm ET on NBC. And don’t forget to check out the upcoming SNL hosts and musical guests for the season.