Michael Che gave an awkward interview on the Today Show as he tried to avoid talking about the controversial Shane Gillis joke on Saturday Night Live.
The “Weekend Update” host already knew he’d be grilled about the Gillis backlash and took to social media to joke about it.
“Gotta do more press this week to promote the special. wonder what every f***ing questions gonna be about. thanks a lot shane,” Che shared on Instagram
Today host Laura Jarrett asked Che if he had seen the pushback over Gillis’ sexist joke, and he said, “That’s comedy. It’s like, you think it’s funny and then some people don’t.”
Jarrett followed up by asking whether he had laughed at the joke, and he said, “I was at cue cards, actually, thinking about what I was going to say that was going to make people upset, so I didn’t even see it until, like, the next day.”
Unsatisfied with the answer, Jarrett pressed Che on what he thought of the joke after hearing it, and the comedian said, “I didn’t think about it, honestly.”
“There’s so much going on. It’s really hard to see what everyone is doing, especially for me. I’m not what they call ‘good at my job,’ so I don’t pay attention to that,” he replied to questions if he had seen the joke during rehearsals. “That’s why I focus on ‘Update,’ because it’s not something that I’m natural at, so I got to really, really work at it. I got to study it.”
Gillis hosted SNL on Saturday, October 10, and made a joke during his monologue that has gotten everyone abuzz.
“I haven’t been to the gym in so long, I didn’t know women just dress like whores now?” Gillis said on the late-night show.
He continued, “Look, I’m sorry, there’s no other way to describe [it]. Have you seen it? I’ve seen it. The shorts. Have you seen the shorts? Those neon, they’re like artificial bait-colored. And the wrinkles go around the cheeks and all combined at the butthole. And don’t look, you’re not allowed to look. For real, don’t look because they are filming. I’m in the background of like 10 TikToks right now.”
Following the interview on Today, Che took to Threads to clarify his stance.
“Folks, I just wanna make one thing abundantly clear… i did NOT laugh,” he wrote. “Also, I NEVER laugh. NONE of this sh** is funny to me. I haven’t actually laughed at comedy in about 11 yrs, ever since I figured out how to do it. Even if it looks like I’m laughing, I’m not really laughing. I’m just being polite.”
He would also add, “Please. Stop saying I hate women. I only hate like 6 of them. (and THEY KNOW WHAT THEY DID!) The other 4,049,999,994 is alright with me. Wear whatever the f**k you want. Squat nekkid!”
Watch Michael Che on the Today show in the video below.