“Saturday Night Live” addressed the Bafta Awards racial slur scandal head-on with a skit poking fun at celebrities hurt by the controversy.
The iconic sketch show posted skits on YouTube, but the latest episode, cut for time reasons, was hosted by “Heated Rivals” star Connor Story. The skit included imitations of celebrities blaming Tourette syndrome as an excuse for past actions.
The skit took aim at Mel Gibson, “Real Housewives of New York” alum Jill Zarin, JK Rowling, Armie Hammer, Bill Cosby, Louis CK and Kanye West.
“At this week’s BAFTAs, the audience was left shocked after several offensive words were shouted at them,” the skit begins.
“But as host Alan Cumming pointed out, those hateful words were unintentional. They were an involuntary verbal tic from a man suffering from Tourette syndrome.”
Then “SNL” cast member Andrew Dismukes started imitating Mel Gibson.
“I’m Mel Gibson, and I probably should have pointed this out decades ago, but I also suffer from Tourette’s disease, which explains a lot of the things I’ve said and shouted over the years,” he said.
“Am I proud of what I said? No. But I’m so proud that you all know it was because of Tourette’s. Unfortunately, I’m not alone.”
Jill Zarin, played by Sarah Sherman, was recently fired from the RHONY reboot after posting a video on Instagram criticizing Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.
“You may have seen the video I posted this week where I said Bad Bunny had the worst halftime show of all time, but why was it in Spanish? And where were the white people?” Zarin asked Sherman.
“But what you don’t know is that I have a severe monologue-style Tourette’s disease, which affects nine out of 10 people on Long Island.”
The story also featured a hilarious performance by Armie Hammer.
“Not many people know this, but one of the most common side effects of Tourette’s disease is cannibalism,” he said.
Rowling actress Ashley Padilla explained the Harry Potter author’s anti-transgender views.
“Mr. Tourette’s words are more than just an offensive line. It may be a long-standing obsession with things like trans life and a deep anger that someone who was born with a cane in their pants would want to remove it and replace it with a Horcrux,” she said.
Cam Patterson, who plays West, confessed that he has “three types of Tourette”, which drew a lot of laughs.
At last week’s BAFTAs, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were yelled the N-word by Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson while the Sinners stars were presenting their awards.
Davidson later spoke about the incident, saying: “I would be very frustrated if anyone thought my involuntary tics were intentional or meant anything.”
BAFTA also apologized “unreservedly” to Mr Jordan and Mr Lind, and the BBC also apologized for not editing the moment before it aired.
