“IT’S A NEW YORK THING”

Report: SNL Cut Harvey Weinstein Jokes at Last Minute

Removed multiple jokes about harassment exposé after dress rehearsal.

Saturday Night Live prepped material about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s sexual-harassment allegations this past weekend, but it was scrapped at the last minute, The New York Times reported. Along with HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher and other late-night shows that taped after news of the major Democratic donor’s history of alleged abuse broke, SNL faced scrutiny for omitting any mention of the bombshell story. According to the Times’ source, Saturday afternoon’s SNL dress rehearsal included both a sketch and a “Weekend Update” segment about Weinstein, both of which were dropped before the live show aired, apparently because they “seemed to fall flat with the show’s studio audience.” Asked by the Daily Mail why the show avoided the story, Executive Producer Lorne Michaels said, “It’s a New York thing.” Besides a brief throwaway line from The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah Thursday night, Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver was the first late-night host to fully address the Weinstein controversy in a short segment Sunday.