SO AWKWARD

‘SNL’ Star Cornered on MAGA-Friendly Host Controversy

He muttered, “Oh, no,” when the interviewer asked about the whole affair.

Michael Che was squirming in his chair on Today while discussing Shane Gillis’ MAGA-coded Saturday Night Live monologue.

Comedian Gillis, 38, has been receiving major blowback after hosting SNL for the third time on Saturday. In his opening monologue, he said, “I haven’t been to the gym in so long I didn’t know women just dress like wh---s now?” before describing women’s athletic shorts and bodies.

Despite having shaded Gillis on Sunday, Che, 43, froze up when Today host Laura Jarrett asked about the monologue. The “Weekend Update” co-anchor had posted a series of Instagram stories lamenting how the scandal will affect the press tour for his Oct. 13 Netflix stand-up special, Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota. And it turns out, he was spot on.

“Gotta do more press this week to promote the special...,” Che wrote on Instagram. “wonder what every f---ing questions gonna be about 🙄..thanks a lot shane.”

On Today, Che muttered, “Oh, no,” when Jarrett brought up Gillis. She asked for Che’s thoughts on the whole affair, clarifying, “You’ve seen the pushback.”

“That’s comedy. It’s like, you think it’s funny, and then some people don’t,” Che said before lapsing into uncomfortable silence.

“Did you laugh at what he said?” Jarrett prompted.

“I was at cue cards, actually, thinking about what I was going to say that was going to make people upset,” Che joked. “So I didn’t even see it until, like, the next day.”

An evasive Che also said the chaos of SNL meant that, when he did see the monologue, he “didn’t think about it, honestly.”

“There’s so much going on,” he continued. “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.”

On “Update,” Che tells a lot of jokes that “go hard” after their subjects, Jarrett said. Che agreed.

“That’s why I can’t criticize anybody for swinging and missing because I’ve definitely swung and missed, too,” Che said. “I try to keep that heat off of me.”

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As the interview concluded, Che said he was surprised the conversation ended so quickly.

“You know what? Come back any time,” Jarrett said, then she quipped, “I have a lot more questions about Shane Gillis.”

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Dana Herrnstadt Editorial Intern, Obsessed

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