“Saturday Night Live” addressed the trial and subsequent verdict in the Jussie Smollett trial during its “Weekend Update” segment this week.
Co-hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che reconvened after taking last week off to discuss the top headlines of the day, which meant that the high-profile case in Chicago was simply impossible to ignore. The former “Empire” actor was found guilty on five of six counts that he lied to police and staged a hoax hate crime against himself in January of 2019.
“On Thursday, a Chicago jury declared Jussie Smollett really bad at acting,” Jost joked at the top of the segment, referencing the fact that Smollett was accused of lying to police on six occasions about the hoax.
“It’s the worst staged hate crime since my all-Christian production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’” Jost added.
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‘Weekend Update’ hosts Colin Jost, Michael Che commented on the verdict in the Jussie Smollett case.
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In 2019, he claimed that two men attacked him due to his skin color and sexual orientation.
He was found guilty of telling a police officer he was a hate crime victim, telling an officer he was a battery victim, telling a detective he was a hate crime victim, telling a detective he was a battery victim and then telling a detective again he was battery victim. He was not found guilty on a sixth charge of telling a second detective he was an aggravated battery victim.
From there, the “Weekend Update” segment shifted into politics where the two comedians pulled no punches in mocking former President Donald Trump over the news that he will be subpoenaed in New York.
“In legal news where someone definitely won’t get convicted, Donald Trump will be subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Letitia James,” Jost said. “James wants to depose Trump under oath on Jan. 7.”
Hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che talked politics again during this week’s “Weekend Update” segment.
(Will Heath/NBC)
He added: “Come on, give the guy a break, that’s the day after his big anniversary.”
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Jost was referencing the one-year anniversary of the now-infamous riot that took place at the U.S. Capitol while the Senate was meeting to certify the election results in favor of President Joe Biden.
The duo did however seem to pull some punches when it came to skewering Vice President Kamala Harris
“According to a new report, a former staff member for Vice President says that she often fails to read briefing material and is unprepared for meetings,” Che joked. “It feels really amazing to finally see someone in the White House who is just like me.”
Jost kept things political with a rib at America’s past while reporting on the recent deployment of troops by Russia to the Ukrainian border.
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Michael Che seemed to go easy on Vice President Kamala Harris in this week’s “Weekend Update.”
(Will Heath/NBC)
“Russia has deployed 90,000 troops to its border with Ukraine leading many people to believe Vladimir Putin plans to invade the country,” he said. “No offense to Ukraine, but why? Is Russia running low on tracksuits and counterfeit cologne?”
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He concluded: “At the same time it’s tough for America to criticize countries who take land from their neighbors. I mean, it’s not exactly a secret where we got ‘New Mexico.’”