This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A one-off joke about the terrorist group Hamas in a “Saturday Night Live” sketch sparked a wave of online outrage over the weekend.
In the skit, Martin, Ben and John, the three writers of the comedy group “Please Don’t Destroy”, try to stop a suicidal man, portrayed by actor Timothée Chalamet, from jumping off the window ledge of a building because of his failed music career. At some point he reveals that his band is called “Hamas,” pronounced HAY-Mis.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“Hamas?!” Martin replies in disbelief as the studio audience roars with laughter.
“Oh God, I didn’t think of that,” Chalamet replies.
Newsrooms are under pressure from the pro-Palestinian left over coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE – “Timothée Chalamet, boygenius” Episode 1848 – Pictured: (l-r) Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy during the “PDD: Jumper” sketch on Saturday, November 11, 2023 (Caro Scarimbolo/NBC via Getty Images)
“Yeah, dude, I don’t share Hamas songs on Instagram,” Martin says.
Even though it wasn’t the focus of the skit at all, the mere reference to the terrorist group sparked a vocal portion of the internet. The show’s Instagram comments for the skit were littered with negative comments that SNL was making light of the “genocide.”
“Such a lowlife joke, shame on you SNL!” wrote one user. “That was disgusting. You had a whole vigil for Ukraine, but you have this one for Palestine? May you all meet your God and explain,” wrote another.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“Since when is it cool to make fun of suicides and genocides?” another writes. Another said: “Not funny at all… We know the West is obsessed with putting Hamas in the spotlight because they can use terrorism to justify the murder and displacement of innocent Palestinians, but this is it surprisingly low.”
“So incredibly disappointed, but unfortunately not surprised. Genocide is not a joke,” wrote another.
The joke was reported elsewhere, including USA Today, BuzzFeed and HuffPost, which also drew attention to the barrage of angry social media comments also posted on X.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
“Making jokes about Hamas indirectly means not taking the genocide seriously, which contributes to Zionist propaganda,” wrote another report on X.
Timothée Chalamet hosted the latest episode of Saturday Night Live. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros.) (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Warner Bros.)
TAYLOR SWIFT AND TRAVIS KELCE LEAVE ‘SNL’ AFTER PARTING HAND IN HAND WITH A SURPRISE CAMERA
The strange controversy highlighted the intense representation of pro-Palestinian voices on major social media sites.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The Washington Post reported on Monday that #FreePalestine hashtags are significantly outperforming #StandWithIsrael hashtags on social media giants TikTok, Facebook and Instagram – the latter two both owned by Meta.
The pre-recorded “Please Don’t Destroy” skits have become a popular part of the show in recent seasons and are known for their surreal, quick jokes, often involving the show’s host or a musical guest that week.
In one, Lizzo tells writers to write her a song immediately after she suffers from writer’s block; In another film, Jenna Ortega from the series “Wednesday” goes on a disastrous road trip with the boys. In a 2021 sketch, Taylor Swift writes the bridge to an impromptu song that, to her horror, is about them being “three sad virgins.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A spokesperson for Saturday Night Live did not respond to a request for comment.
For more information on culture, media, education, opinion and channel coverage, visit foxnews.com/media.