Chappell Roan can’t seem to catch a break these days. First, her requests for more respect from invasive fans raised controversy. Next, her refusal to endorse a presidential candidate led to even more backlash from the general public. It got to the point that Roan pulled out of this weekend’s All Things Go music festival to protect her mental health. Now, a Saturday Night Live sketch has taken up the topic, and Roan’s fans aren’t happy.
The sketch, a part of the show’s Weekend Update segment, saw Bowen Yang as viral hippo Moo Deng lamenting her recent rise to fame, making many of the same points Roan has in recent months. “It has come to the point where I need to set some boundaries,” Yang said while dressed as Moo Deng. “Reminder: women owe you nothing.”
Those statements were met with laughs from the crowd, leading many of Roan’s fans to claim that SNL — and Yang himself — were mocking and even bullying Roan through the sketch. They also referenced when Yang spoke to Roan earlier this year for Interview Magazine, saying they expected more from him considering he knows what she’s going through. “The lesson to learn here is that a gay man is a man before being anything else,” wrote one fan.
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The backlash led Yang to defend himself with a story on Instagram, referencing an article with the headline, “‘SNL’ Mocks Chappell Roan as Bowen Yang’s Moo Deng Takes On Crazy Fans.”
“Oh geez. ‘Mocks’???” Yang wrote in his post. “If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting her then there it is I guess. Everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable and even then we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever. Needing the hose rn…”
Several folks across the internet (including some of Roan’s fans) also came to Yang’s defense, saying the sketch simply wasn’t that deep. “I think a lot of you just want a reason to say ‘I hate gay guys,'” wrote influencer Griffin Maxwell Brooks.
Still others said that no matter Yang’s intentions for the sketch, the impact is still ultimately harmful for Roan. The sketch may not have been a fan favorite, but it’s certainly got the world talking.
See the controversial sketch for yourself below.
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