SNL joke about Steve Irwin draws groans from shocked audience
‘It’s still too early,' one viewer said
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Your support makes all the difference.A joke about the death of Steve Irwin went too far for some Saturday Night Live audience members.
The moment arrived during the comedy show’s Weekend Update section, which saw hosts Colin Jost and Michael Che discuss the deadly coronavirus.
Che revealed his reasoning for not wanting to make jokes about the situation, stating “[It’s] 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.”
He then added: ”Imagine if there was a video of The Crocodile Hunter making fun of stingrays.”
Irwin, who was nicknamed “The Crocodile Hunter”, died aged 44 on 4 September 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray while filming underwater film Ocean’s Deadliest in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
He would have turned 58 last week.
As Che made the joke, the audience groaned and some viewers expressed their distaste on social media.
Jake Gyllenhaal also appeared on this weekend's episode of SNL and shared a backstage video of a hilarious encounter he had with Larry David.
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