Saturday Night Live continues to face massive backlash for its 'tone deaf' outline of the Congressional hearings on anti-Semitism on campus – as reports say ex-cast member Cecily Strong was pulled at the last minute.
The NBC show's cold-open attempted to downplay testimony from the presidents of Harvard and UPenn about anti-Semitism at the nation's top universities, but the joke fell flat.
Former SNL star Strong would rep. Elise Stefanik stars in the sketch, but was replaced by newcomer Chloe Troast after the dress rehearsal, according to a report from The Wrap.
It's unclear why Strong was replaced, but the site notes that Strong could delay her return until next week, when fellow former SNL star Kaye MacKinnon will host the show. DailyMail.com has reached out to NBC for comment.
Greg Gutfeld, host of Fox News' The Five, was one of several critics of the sketch, writing on X: “How do you explain SNL siding with Ivy League neo-racists? wondering which colleges their writers attended.'
Saturday Night Live Continues to Face Massive Backlash Over 'Tone-Deaf' Outline of Congressional Hearings on Campus Anti-Semitism
Former SNL star Strong would rep. Elise Stefanik plays in the sketch, but was replaced by newcomer Chloe Troast after the dress rehearsal
Rabbi Shmuel Reichman said the skit was the “most embarrassing” he has ever seen.
“Unfortunately, this isn't surprising… SNL hasn't had its finger on the pulse for about a decade; they are about as out of touch with reality as Liz Magill… This is probably the most embarrassing decision in SNL history,” the author wrote.
“(Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, and Adam Sandler are probably shaking their heads in disgust somewhere, embarrassed by how low SNL has sunk since their heyday.)”
Fellow rabbi and writer David Bashevkin added: SNL's Achilles heel thinks the joke is always on Trump. I'm an SNL fan, but this was such a failure.”
The former US ambassador to Israel added: “I just watched last night's SNL opener. Whether or not you care about anti-Semitism on college campuses, or whatever you think about it, this just wasn't funny.”
Republican representative from North Carolina. Greg Murphy demanded “nothing less than a full-fledged apology from the entire SNL staff” after the skit.
He wrote on Typical damn liberal hypocrisy.”
Conservative radio host Larry Elder also joined in, writing about X: “It's been a while since I watched SNL. I quickly remembered why. Cringing. Why is it not anti-Semitic to mock a critic of anti-Semitism for her criticism of anti-Semitism?'
Ben Domenech, editor-in-chief of The Spectator, said: “The rotting shell of SNL can mock this all they want. The damage has been done, heads are rolling, and all because of a very simple question.”
Domenech's wife Meghan McCain also spoke about the skit: 'There's been a 400% increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes since October 7 and SNL thinks it's hilarious…. This is mean. Despicable.'
Several others posted on X calling on the show to apologize.
SNL creator Lorne Michaels was born to a Jewish family from Toronto before moving to Los Angeles in 1968. He created SNL in 1975 and has overseen it for most of its 50-year existence.
The pre-written draft was rolled out just hours after University of Pennsylvania President Amy Magill — whose testimony before the House panel seemed particularly smug — resigned in disgrace after a dismal performance over the past eight weeks.
In a moment intended to ridicule Stefanik's hearing performance, which has been widely praised, she said, “I'm going to scream questions at these women like Billy Eichner.”
'Anti-Semitism – yes or no?' she shouted at the three women playing the university president.
'Yes or no! Does the call for genocide of the Jews violate Harvard's code of conduct?'
The actress who plays Harvard University's Claudine Gay responded, “Well, it depends on the context.”
'What? That can't be your answer,” Troast's Stefanik replied, echoing the shocking interaction between the two in the real world.
“UPenn lady, same question, yes or no?” she asked the actress playing Magill.
“If you don't say yes, you're making me look good, and that's really hard to do,” she continued. “So I'll ask you honestly. Do you think genocide is bad?'
iHeart Radio host Mark Simone wrote on
While SNL thought the congressional testimony was laughable, the consequences were real for UPenn's Liz Magill, who has since been forced to resign from her position.
While SNL thought the congressional testimony was laughable, the consequences were real for UPenn's Liz Magill, who has since been forced to resign from her position
Harvard President Claudine Gay during the congressional hearing on anti-Semitism on campus
MIT President Sally Kornbluth's testimony was widely criticized
The chairman of the Ivy League school's board of trustees, Scott Bok, also immediately resigned during a board meeting Saturday evening, just hours after Bok announced Liz Magill's departure as president in her second year.
Bok, a supporter of Magill, defended her during several months of criticism over the university's handling of several perceived acts of anti-Semitism.
Universities in the US have been accused of failing to protect Jewish students amid rising fears of anti-Semitism worldwide and the fallout from Israel's intensification of the war in Gaza, which is facing increased criticism over the rising Palestinian death toll.
The three presidents were called before the committee to respond to these allegations. But their legally ambiguous answers drew renewed criticism from opponents, especially focused on a series of questions from Rep. Stefanik, who repeatedly asked whether “calling for genocide of Jews” would violate Penn's code of conduct.
“If the speech turns into behavior, it could be harassment, yes,” Magill said. Pressed further, Magill told Stefanik, “It's a context-dependent decision, Congressman.”
Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth gave similar responses to Stefanik, and Bok pointed that out.
Magill made a “very unfortunate misstep — consistent with that of two fellow university leaders sitting next to her — after five hours of aggressive questioning before a congressional committee,” Bok said.
Still, criticism poured down on Magill from the White House, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, members of Congress and donors. One donor, Ross Stevens, threatened to withdraw a $100 million gift because of the university's “position on anti-Semitism on campus” unless Magill was replaced.
A day later, Magill addressed the criticism, saying in a video that she would consider a call for genocide against Jewish people to be harassment or intimidation and that Penn's policies should be “clarified and evaluated.”
It could not suppress the criticism.
On Saturday, Stefanik said in a statement that Magill's “forced resignation” is the “bare minimum of what is necessary” and that Harvard and MIT should follow suit.
“One down. Two more to go,” Stefanik said, adding that “this is just the very beginning of addressing the widespread rot of anti-Semitism that has destroyed America's most 'prestigious' institutions of higher education.”