Throughout the years, Saturday Night Live has brought laughs to so many people. They often find things that are happening in pop culture and do parodies of said incidents. While some can be funny and in some cases, educational, some have landed them in some hot water.

Try Guys

The most recent (at least to my knowledge) scandal that SNL unfortunately covered was the Try Guys drama. To simplify it, one of the founders, Ned Fulmer, was having a long-time affair with one of his employees, Alexandria Herring. When the rest of the team- Eugene Lee Yang, Keith Habersberger, and Zach Kornfeld- found out about the issue, they recorded a sit-down video, saying that they terminated Ned and apologized to their fans.

A bit after this video, SNL made a parody of the apology video, stating that it was “just a kiss between two consenting adults”, which is not what happened. It’s also mentioned that the only reason the rest of the crew of the Try Guys were so mad was because Ned didn’t tell them. While this is completely not the events of what happened, nor what Eugene, Zach, and Keith have said in any comments about the situation, SNL still decided to make this insensitive parody.

Gen Z Hospital

This sketch opens in on a group of (what can be assumed by the title) Gen Z people who are trying to ask the doctor how their friend is doing, however using slang terms to ask them. The receptionist and doctors themselves are also using said slang. It’s obvious that this is making fun of Gen Z, saying that they cannot be serious in important conversations. Not only this, the doctor comes back and informs the group that their “bestie” has passed away, and when they ask to see her, the receptionist brings back a light and a Supreme branded urn, saying that “it will look better on the gram”. They end it by the group and doctor making a TikTok “in memory”.

Besides the mockery of this sketch, the doctor was played by Elon Musk, who has made some questionable decisions in his life. However, that doesn’t necessarily relate to SNL.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Trial Cold Opening

The Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trial was being watched nationwide, so it seemed obvious that SNL would cover this topic. Starting off, this skit feels similar to the Try Guys skit, starting off by making this case seem less serious than it was. The judge in this skit blatantly says that this case is “just for fun”, completely disregarding the possible abuse from the two parties (Johnny Depp and Amber Heard). 

For context, a rather infamous part of the trial was Amber Heard’s fecal matter being found in Johnny Depp’s bed, so when a video is being played in the skit, it shows workers finding this and making fun of it. The judge looks at Johnny Depp and they both say that they find this case amusing. She then finishes the video and says that because of Depp’s smirks, “this isn’t the first time you’ve made a woman so mad that they pooped in your bed”. This, in total, is incredibly misleading by making this case about domestic abuse something funny.

SNL over the years has made many skits that are in poor taste, but it doesn’t seem like this will end anytime soon. Whether you watch SNL or not, please remember that some things they joke about are not laughing matters, so educate yourself on the truth, rather than this gross satirization.