“Saturday Night Live’s” 40th season went out with a bang, no doubt about it.
Host Louis C.K. is no stranger to edgy comedy — as seen on his critically acclaimed FX series “Louie” — and his nine-minute monologue shocked some on social media.
The comedian remarked on his experiences growing up in the 1970s, first pointing out that no one was offended by racist language at that time (and admitting to his “mild racism” today). Then he got a few groans from the audience once he started delving into the topic of child molesters.
He said that the child molester living down the street was not a big deal to most people at the time.
“Child molesters are very tenacious people,” he noted, pointing out the fate of those who are caught doing it.
“From their point of view, it must be amazing to risk so much!”
Many in the audience sounded shocked by this point in the monologue and he was aware that the joke didn’t go over well.
It’s far from the first “SNL” monologue to cause controversy: Martin Lawrence’s from 1993 was considered so offensive, it was never replayed again
Opinions on Twitter were sharply mixed.
“That Louis CK monologue was not only terrible, it was actually offensive!” said Cindy Wrightson.
“BryanBe” was “stunned” that NBC allowed him to say it.
Ken Shi, on the other hand, said that those who were offended “really have no sense of humour.”
The episode also went close to the edge when C.K.’s character in one sketch imitated Leslie Jones’ voice.
Former “SNL” star Chris Kattan remarked that he wrote a similar sketch and “when I did African-American voice they said ‘too offensive.’ Now I’m confused.”