Michael Che on SNL: 'Whether you're Muslim or Jewish, y'all need Jesus!'

In this past Saturday's Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live (SNL), co-host Michael Che made a joke regarding the “Middle East conflict,” where he comments, “Whether you’re Jewish or Muslim, y’all need Jesus.”

In the same skit, he also targeted Beyonce, who has recently offered released hostage, Emily Hand, tickets to a concert.

"Last month, Beyonce posted a video of herself in a chrome Versace dress and platinum blonde hair that many described as 'too white.' In fact, Beyonce looked so white that I was finally attracted to her!" Che joked.

@nbcsnl

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SNL jokes have been criticized for antisemitism 

In February 2021, Che joked about Israel's vaccination program. “Israel is reporting that they vaccinated half of their population,” said the show’s co-head writer, “and I’m going to guess it’s the Jewish half.”

This segment led Jewish organizations and Israeli leaders to accuse Che of leaning into “an antisemitic trope,” with the Anti-Defamation League suggesting that “Weekend Update” this year had leaned into jokes that “inappropriately use Jews as the punchline.”

In a 15-minute SNL monologue in 2022, Dave Chapelle made jokes alluding to Jewish control of Hollywood, saying, “I’ve been to Hollywood. It’s a lot of Jews. Like a lot,” adding that he could see how one could “adopt the delusion that the Jews run show business.” 

In response to this, Jonathan Greenblatt posted on Twitter, now X: “We shouldn’t expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society’s moral compass, but disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalize but popularize #antisemitism.”

“Why are Jewish sensitivities denied or diminished at almost every turn?" he asked: "Why does our trauma trigger applause?”