After Bowen Yang dressed like baby hippo Moo Deng and made pop-culture jokes on Weekend Update last year, outlets like Variety led the outrage machine with headlines like, “SNL Mocks Chappell Roan.” Mocks? Well, Moo Deng did mention Roan, but it was more of a defense than a diss.
“I have to say, Moo Deng,” said Colin Jost, “your life sounds a lot like Chappell Roan’s lately, you know. Do you know Chappell Roan?”
“I’m 10 weeks old, Colin,” replied Moo Deng. “Of course I know Chappell Roan. And by the way, leave her alone. 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.”
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Moo Deng asked for privacy, similar to pleas Roan has made in the past. “Reminder: women owe you nothing,” said Yang’s character. “When I’m in my enclosure, tripping over stuff, biting my trainer’s knee, I am at work. That is the project. Do not yell my name or expect a photo just because I’m your parasocial bestie or because you appreciate my talent.”
When Roan fans called out the jokes for mocking their favorite pop star, Yang took to his Instagram Stories to clap back. “Oh geeez. ‘Mocks’??? if my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting her then there it is i guess,” he wrote. “everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable and even then we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever. needing the hose rn…”
Now Yang knows for certain that at least one person wasn’t offended by the Chappell Roan jokes: Chappell Roan. “I wasn’t even mad!” she said on Yang’s Las Culturistas podcast, explaining she thought the bit was funny. “I didn’t feel anything.”
If there was anyone to be mad at, it was oversensitive Roan fans. “People don’t have to get mad on my behalf,” the singer said. “We’re fine. So what is there to be mad about? Also, this is what happens, that is SNL. It’s comedy. Even if you were to push it further, harmless. It’s comedy. I don’t understand. I just don’t know the line anymore.”
Yang tried to understand the reverence with which some fans treat celebrities. “It’s a love bombing thing, or it’s like limerence. It’s like they’re obsessed with you, and so they will die if anything goes wrong.”
Las Culturistas co-host Matt Rogers thinks the whole controversy is parasocial. “I remember getting texts from people being like, ‘Are Bowen and Chappell okay?’” he said. “First of all, they don’t really know each other that well. Second of all, I’m sure they are. Third of all, why are we assuming that people don’t have senses of humor? It’s Chappell Roan, y’all.”
Fans who didn’t like the Moo Deng jokes had another option, said Roan: “You didn’t have to say anything.”
Rogers agreed: “There’s always silence.”
Content shared from www.cracked.com.