Elon Musk’s appearance hosting Saturday Night Live drew more controversy before it aired than what was actually on TV, but one sketch that saw some criticism in the days that followed has also drawn a defense from head writer Michael Che. The Weekend Update co-anchor and c0-head writer defended the “Gen Z Hospital” sketch on Instagram after some online discussion over its use of language continued to make headlines online days after it aired.
The sketch, which had Musk working as a doctor in a hospital staffed with a pink-haired nurse, had younger people worried about a patient who showed up at Gen Z Hospital seeking treatment. The cast members in the waiting room used a number of slang sayings and phrases that were apparently meant to represent Generation Z characters. The acronym AAVE — African American vernacular English — circulated on Twitter in reference to SNL on Sunday, as some critiqued the sketch for repurposing AAVE as simply how people of a younger generation talk.
As Deadline detailed, the That Damn Michael Che creator addressed the mild controversy as he often does: on Instagram. In a text post he shared on Monday, Che admitted that the sketch “bombed” but said he had to look up what AAVE even was when people accused the show of misappropriating words and phrases often popular in the Black community.
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“I’ve been reading about how my “gen z” sketch was misappropriating AAVE and I was stunned cause what the f*ck is ‘AAVE’? I had to look it up,” Che wrote. “Turns out it’s an acronym for ‘African American vernacular english.’ You know, AAVE! That ol’ saying that actual black people use in conversation all the time.”
Che admitted the sketch didn’t go over very well, but that this particular critique seemed to surprise even him.
“Look, the sketch bombed. I’m used to that,” he said. “I meant no offense to the ‘aave’ community. I love aave. Aave to the moon!”
Che seemed to get support from his cast mates with the post, as Chloe Fineman liked it while Kenan Thompson also liked another post Che shared of a headline from an online news outlet covering his response to the controversy. And while it may not satisfy those who were critical of the sketch, it does at least let us know who was behind the sketch in the first place. That’s not something that’s always entirely apparent when it comes to what makes it to air for SNL, but in this case Che was willing to address whatever controversy still seems to be coming from the show’s latest episode and take responsibility for it.
