For as much criticism as it faces from at-home viewers, “Saturday Night Live” maintains the ability to amuse its live studio audience to the point where there are full Reddit threads on whether the sketch comedy series uses a laugh track. (As far as we are aware, it does not.) So it is particularly noticeable when a joke bombs, as was the case during this past Saturday’s “Weekend Update” segment.
The bit began innocuously, with co-anchor Michael Che poking fun at Kanye West’s new gospel album and public pivot to Christianity by stating, “At first, I thought Kanye was losing his mind, and now I feel like he’s fine. He’s just turning into an old white lady.
“I mean, he used to be, like, one of the coolest black dudes on earth,” Che continued. “Now he’s showing up to events in sweatpants and orthopedic sneakers, listening to Kenny G and trying to get black people to like Trump. It’s like, how long before this guy changes his name to Kathy?”
The audience laughed until Che’s final joke, which was met with silence, aside from a few groans. Beginning with, “Now, you might think I’m crazy,” he went on to refer to Caitlyn Jenner — the reality star and former Olympian who was married until 2015 to West’s mother-in-law, Kris — as another “fella” who moved to Calabasas, Calif., turning the joke about West into one mocking and misgendering the transgender woman. (Che also deadnamed Jenner, or called her by the birth name she no longer uses.)