‘SNL’ Tackles College Cheating Scandal, Jussie Smollett And ‘Us’


Saturday Night Live tackled some popular news stories this week. SNL featured comedy sketches on the college cheating scandal that has tarnished the reputation of Aunt Becky AKA Lori Loughlin and the Jussie Smollett situation where the Empire actor alleges that he was the victim of a hate crime, despite the Chicago Police Department finding evidence that says otherwise.

In SNL‘s “College Admissions” skit, a university’s board of admissions has only a handful of open spots left for the Class of 2023. The board (Host Sandra Oh, Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson, Heidi Gardner, Chris Redd) passes over qualified students who deserve to be accepted to select a cookie empire heiress, the grandson of a D-list actor, and a stabby legacy admission. Even a 5’1″ 90-pound rower is accepted into the school because of a recommendation by the school’s crew coach, which is how Lori Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli allegedly was accepted into USC.

SNL also addressed the Jussie Smollett controversy with their skit titled “Network Meeting.” The sketch was based on Smollett’s claims that he was a victim of a hate crime by MAGA hat-wearing thugs. The actor alleges that he was attacked near his Chicago apartment around 2 AM after he went to get a Subway sandwich in the -21 degrees below zero temperatures.

The Chicago Police Department conducted a lengthy investigation into the allegations and found that it was Smollett who concocted and organized the attack on himself. “Ultimately, the Chicago police investigation revealed that you knowingly filed a false police report and had in fact orchestrated your own attack,” the Chicago Police stated.

The prosecutor dropped all charges against Smollett and mysteriously sealed the case. City officials ordered Smollett to pay $130,106.15 to cover the cost of the investigation of the reported staged attack. Smollett continues to say he is innocent and the victim.

In the SNL bit, TV executives (Mikey Day, Kate McKinnon and Ego Nwodim) are with Empire co-creator Lee Daniels (Kenan Thompson) and Smollett’s manager (Sandra Oh). Jussie Smollett (Chris Redd) shows up two hours late to the meeting and claims his tardiness was caused because he was the victim of another hate crime attack. Smollett shows props that are evidence of another attack of him, the “gay Tupac.”

Saturday Night Live also had a routine where Jordan Peele’s horror movie Us was transformed into a commercial for the Discover credit card. SNL comedian Ego Nwodim was a woman who wants to get to the bottom of some suspicious credit card charges and she calls Discover. She tries to understand the bizarre charges. She finds that the customer service rep is just like her. A little too much.

Here are some other skits that were popular from this week’s Saturday Night Live.