Kenan Thompson kicked off Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary special with a sharp-witted quip about Kendrick Lamar as his game show host character, Darnell Hayes, welcomed audiences to another edition of “Black Jeopardy.”
“The only Jeopardy! where every single Black viewer fully understood Kendrick’s halftime performance,” Thompson joked, earning instant laughter from the crowd.
The comment was a slick nod to the ongoing conversation about Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show performance.
Some saw Kendrick Lamar’s set as a powerful statement on racial injustice and cultural identity and defended it as a celebration of Black artistry on one of the world’s biggest stages.
Some conservative detractors criticized it as unpatriotic, while Kid Rock labeled the performance DEI turned into an “IED.”
The “Black Jeopardy” sketch on Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary featured notable legends Tracy Morgan, Leslie Jones, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and actor Tom Hanks.
While the opening joke set the tone for the sketch, the rest of the segment has supporters of Donald Trump fuming.
At the heart of the controversy was the return of Tom Hanks in the role of Doug, the MAGA-hat-wearing contestant first introduced in 2016. After Doug correctly answered a question about the white “Church Lady,” he ranted about faith.
“If more folks went to church, we wouldn’t be in this mess we are in now,” Doug said. But he is reluctant to shake Doug’s hand, who then offers to start a new show, “White Jeopardy.”
The original sketch, which garnered over 83 million views on SNL’s YouTube channel, had been widely praised for its satirical approach.
However, this time, some viewers found the humor had lost its edge, while others took issue with what they perceived as a mockery of Trump supporters.
Online backlash was swift, with critics calling Tom Hanks’ portrayal “racist and disgusting.”
Some conservative commentators claimed the segment misrepresented their beliefs, portraying them as out of touch with Black culture.