CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 01: Chappell Roan performs onstage during Lollapalooza at Grant Park on August 01, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Natasha Moustache/Getty Images)
The long-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live stirred up a flurry of outrage among fans of Chappell Roan over a sketch that aired during the show’s Season 50 premiere episode.
The sketch featured 33-year-old actor and comedian Bowen Yang dressed as Moo Deng, a baby pygmy hippopotamus from Khao Khew Open Zoo in Si Racha, Thailand, that gained a surge in internet popularity after images of the hippo became a viral meme in September 2024.
While dressed as Moo Deng, Yang appears to mock Roan’s struggles to adjust to an exponential rise in fame. The singer herself made headlines when she pleaded with her audience to respect her boundaries regarding fan interactions.
In a post to Instagram in August 2024, Roan wrote, “When I’m onstage when I’m performing…I am at work. Any other circumstance, I am not in work mode. I don’t agree with the notion that I owe a mutual exchange of energy, time, or attention to people I don’t know.”
Yang and the writers of SNL reference this post during the “Weekend Update” segment of the show, with Yang dressed as Moo Deng saying: “For the past ten weeks. I’ve been going nonstop… The response has been overwhelming, but it has come to the point where I need to set some boundaries.”
Once the sketch started making its rounds on the Internet, Roan’s fans quickly voiced their disappointment on X. Some fans have accused Yang and SNL of using Roan’s mental health struggles as a source of comedic material.
“It is abhorrent for men to continue to mock women for setting boundaries and being open about their mental health struggles. Bowen’s participation in this skit only adds to the insane harassment that Chappell is getting, and I hope she cancels being SNL‘s musical guest,” wrote one fan.
While Roan has yet to comment publicly on the skit, Yang voiced his support for the singer, saying, “Let her take as much time as she needs for her mental health. We both deserve patience and grace, so stop harassing her and stop throwing shellfish at her. This is what society does: It puts young women on pedestals, only to knock them down with shellfish.”
Roan is slated to appear on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest on Nov 2.
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