{"id":41683,"date":"2024-12-11T08:33:41","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T13:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=41683"},"modified":"2024-12-11T08:33:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T13:33:41","slug":"saturday-night-live-faces-criticism-after-jokes-about-united-healthcare-ceos-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/12\/saturday-night-live-faces-criticism-after-jokes-about-united-healthcare-ceos-murder.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d Faces Criticism After Jokes About United HealthCare CEO\u2019s Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Saturday Night Live \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the investigation into the murder of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, with the arrest of 26-year-old suspect Luigi Mangione<\/a> just breaking earlier this week, the rhetoric over the murder continues to be charged. \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d decided to jump into the fray when the murder was discussed on the show\u2019s \u201cWeekend Update<\/a>\u201d segment, featuring Colin Jost and Michael Che. \u201cThis week, New York City officials sent a tough message on crime: If you shoot somebody in the middle of the street, you better get on your bike, hop on a bus and get the heck out of here, mister,\u2019\u201d joked Jost during the episode, which aired December 7 before Mangione had been named as a suspect.<\/p>\n

He later added that, \u201cit really says something about America that a guy was murdered in cold blood and the two main reactions were, ‘Yeah, well healthcare stinks!’ And also, ‘Girl, that shooter hot.’\u201d Jost also took a jab at the NYPD, saying, \u201cIt’s also so crazy that the shooting happened three blocks from here in broad daylight, and the guy just bicycled away. Probably because they have every cop in the city guarding our Christmas tree.\u201d Che joined in with a joke about a smiling picture of the suspect apparently flirting with a female employee of a hostel.<\/p>\n

The jokes were received with mixed reactions. While some defended the jokes, others on social media pushed back against the segment. \u201cI am not a suing person but this instance I hope @nbcsnl gets sued by the #BrianThompson Family and take everything they got,\u201d wrote one user on X<\/a>. \u201cDisgusting. I couldn’t watch this segment. The victim’s family and friends are very much grieving right now,\u201d wrote one commentor on YouTube. Another called the segment \u201cClassless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many have taken to social media, grieved by past denials from United HealthCare, to apparently support the murder. \u201cYou\u2019re probably rich and never been denied coverage if you don\u2019t feel some kind of sense of karma,\u201d wrote one user on X<\/a>. Piers Morgan<\/a> slammed former Washington Post <\/em>reporter Taylor Lorenz for a post she made that seemingly supported the killing. Prior to appearing on Morgan\u2019s show, Lorenz had posted<\/a>, \u201cAnd people wonder why we want these executives dead,\u201d while sharing a story about Blue Cross Blue Shield no longer covering anesthesia.<\/p>\n

When asked about her response, Lorenz appeared to state she felt \u201cjoy\u201d over Thompson\u2019s death. \u201cI do believe in the sanctity of life, and I think that\u2019s why I felt, along with so many other Americans, joy, unfortunately. Maybe not joy but certainly not empathy,\u201d she said. \u201cHow could this make you joyful? This guy is a husband, he\u2019s a father, and he\u2019s been gunned down in the middle of Manhattan. Why does that make you joyful?\u201d asked a disbelieving Morgan. Lorenz justified her comment by accusing Thompson of murder. \u201cSo are the tens of thousands of Americans that he murdered! So are the tens of thousands of Americans, innocent Americans, who died because greedy health insurance executives like this one push a policy of denying care to the most vulnerable people, and I am a part of the many millions of Americans that have watched people that I care about suffer and in some cases die because of lack of healthcare.\u201d She stated, however, that not every healthcare executive deserved to be killed. \u201cYou seem to find the whole thing hilarious. A bloke\u2019s been murdered in the street. I don\u2019t find it funny at all,\u201d responded Morgan. It is being reported<\/a> that Vox Media has now cut ties with Lorenz. The investigation into Thompson\u2019s murder is ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the investigation into the murder of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, with the arrest of 26-year-old suspect Luigi Mangione just breaking earlier this week, the rhetoric over the murder continues to be charged. \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d decided to jump into the fray when the murder was discussed on the show\u2019s \u201cWeekend Update\u201d segment,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":627,"featured_media":41662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-politics","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d Faces Criticism After Jokes About United HealthCare CEO\u2019s Murder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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