Entertainment
SNL’s Michael Che slammed for reposting offensive joke about Larry Nassar’s sexual assault of Simone Biles
SNL’s Michael Che claims reposting of offensive Simone Biles jokes were the result of an Instagram hack (Picture: Stephanie Augello/REX/Shutterstock)
Saturday Night Live star Michael Che has come under fire after reposting a vile joke about Simone Biles on his Instagram Story on Thursday night.
The 38-year-old was slammed by followers after he shared a tasteless joke about the years of sexual abuse Biles suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who was convicted of abusing hundreds of women and girls in his care.
In a series of Instagram stories that have since been deleted by the comedian, Che posted messages about the 24-year-old gymnast who withdrew from the team and all-round finals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics earlier this week.
Che wrote about wanting to make jokes about the athlete, who withdrew for the sake of her mental health, and then asked for his followers to share their own jokes about her.
‘I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head. Im going to the cellar tonight to say them into a microphone. As the dorky kids say I’m choosing violence,’ he wrote, showing a string of replies, including a joke about convicted abuser Larry Nassar.
‘Goddamn, that’s rough,’ Che said in response to the Nassar comment. ‘Absolutely tasteless. 9/10.’
Followers took screenshots of the comedian’s comments (Picture: Michael Che/Instagram)
The SNL star appeared keen to make comments about the 24-year-old Olympic athlete, before he he went on to claim he had been hacked (Picture: Michael Che/Instagram)
In response to a different racist message, he added: ‘Now that’s a good joke. economical. referential. balanced. good job. 8/10.’
The Stories quickly went viral on social media, with many denouncing them as insensitive.
Che later took to his Instagram again to claim his account had been hacked as he explained: ‘Mannnnn, i got hacked today. Can’t believe they got me. Yall know i only do jokes about whites and cops.
‘S’all good now i changed my password and everything..yall hear about dababy tho..? that’s crazy. iight see yall at church. Imma get there early.’
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Che then deleted his claim of a hack and proceeded to wipe the entirety of his Instagram.
In February 2018, Nassar was sentenced to 40-175 years in prison for various sexual abuse charges, to be served after a separate 60-year sentence for child pornography sentences which – given his age – means he will die behind bars.
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