Michael Che is feeling the backlash after a joke he told during “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live” was slammed for making fun of the death of “Crocodile Hunter” star Steve Irwin.
During the show’s faux newscast on the Feb. 29 edition of “SNL”, Che explained his reluctance to make jokes about the coronavirus — just in case he already had it.
“Man, I don’t wanna make jokes about this coronavirus,” said Che. “And not because it’s too sad — it’s because I don’t know that I don’t have it yet and if I do have it, the internet is going to play this clip of me making fun of it over and over again. As they should, ’cause that’d be hilarious.”
Che added: ”Imagine if there was a video of the Crocodile Hunter making fun of stingrays.” (Che’s joke can be seen in the video above, just after the 1:45 mark.)
The joke referenced the 2006 death of “Crocodile Hunter” star Steve Irwin, who died after being stung in the chest by a stingray.
Che’s punchline was met with a collective groan from the “SNL” audience, but that was nothing compared to the response that followed on Twitter:
“Saturday Night Live” airs Saturdays at 11:30 p.m. ET, 8:30 p.m. PT on Global.
