Saturday Night Live celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on Sunday night with a starry special that was supposed to serve as a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Instead, the comedy show – and guest star Tom Hanks – are facing backlash for reprising a 2016 sketch that portrayed MAGA supporters as racist.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn, hosts of America This Week, to discuss the controversy and why Hanks unnecessarily alienated his fan base.
Hanks on SNL
Hanks returned to Studio 8H to step back into his role as “Doug” in the Black Jeopardy! sketch from 2016. Sporting a red MAGA hat and a t-shirt emblazoned with an American flag and eagle, the actor put on a thick Southern accent to portray the lone white contestant on the gameshow.
Doug surprised host Darnell Hayes (Kenan Thompson) and his fellow contestants played by Sasheer Zamata and Leslie Jones with shared sentiments about distrust of government and other issues.
This time around, Thompson was back on hosting duty as Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, and Leslie Jones competed for the prize. At the end of the skit, Hanks briefly replaced Murphy to correctly identify a picture of the Church Lady, a character played by comedian Dana Carvey.
“Speaking of church, can I say something? If more people went to church, we wouldn’t be in this mess we’re in now,” Hanks said in the same Southern accent and MAGA hat.
“You know what? I agree with you, Doug,” Thompson responded. “I’d like to shake your hand, sir.” Like in 2016, Doug was reluctant to shake Thompson’s hand before finally relenting.
‘Shame on Him’
The internet immediately called out the racist portrayal of Trump supporters, and Taibbi said the character is tired because of how one-dimensional it is. “This is an old trope in media and in comedy. It is the urban sophisticate who is picking on the rural hayseed,” he said. “But you have to be accurate… The caricature has to be… true in some way, and not just some stereotyped idea that you picked up by not observing people in real life… It is not funny because it is just a stereotype.”
In Kirn’s view, Hanks had nothing to gain from resurrecting this role. “I didn’t know that Tom Hanks would stoop to this kind of thing,” he said. “It is terrible writing, it was a terrible skit, and he was the big loser. I see people all over the social media going, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be watching him again anytime soon.'”
Megyn agreed. “I’m sure [Tom Hanks] is worth a billion dollars… And you know who got it for him,” she asked. “All of us… who went to see Forrest Gump, and Big, and all the fun Tom Hanks movies and never once thought that he was judging them as stupid, rural, worth-nothing racists.”
“It was shocking to see somebody who tries so carefully not to be too divisive in his choices to come right out and suggest he thinks Trump supporters are racists,” she concluded. “Shame on him.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Taibbi and Kirn by tuning in to episode 1,009 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.