Yesterday, SNL made headlines after it was announced that writer Katie Rich has been suspended “indefinitely†from the show over a joke she tweeted out Friday that referenced Donald Trump’s 10-year-old son Barron. While not everyone is defending the joke in question – and Rich was quick to offer a public and sincere apology – SNL alums and other comedians have been showing tons of support for Rich over the past day:
The suspension of Katie Rich from SNL does not bode well for free speech. We should all be a little more scared than we were yesterday.
— Nikki Glaser (@NikkiGlaser) January 23, 2017
This is infuriating. It was a joke. Whoever at NBC made this decision: you’re a GIANT pussy. https://t.co/mQh9zEMX8o
— Nikki Glaser (@NikkiGlaser) January 23, 2017
Rumor: Katie Rich is creating a new show for @noradunn & @jennyslate. — Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) January 24, 2017
@katiemaryrich Katie, it was a funny, clever joke. You have nothing to apologize for. Swift would approve! (Of the tweet that is, not SNL). — )))David Cross((( (@davidcrosss) January 24, 2017
Support Katie Rich. — Horatio Sanz (@MrHoratioSanz) January 24, 2017
Talk about PC culture run amok! Right? Right, people who say that all the time? This is that, right? https://t.co/oQg1PM831L — Paul F. Tompkins (@PFTompkins) January 23, 2017
I don’t know Katie Rich but I support her — Morgan Murphy (@morgan_murphy) January 24, 2017
Katie Rich has never bragged about sexually assaulting anyone. — Paul Brittain (@PaulBrittain3) January 24, 2017
We’re suspending comedy writers for writing jokes. We’re criticizing reporters for reporting facts. This is the age of the mediocre. — Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) January 24, 2017
Another comedian who came to Rich’s support was Dan Harmon, who responded to the controversy with a job offer:
Aaaaaaaand hired. https://t.co/UrYxW0njEL — (((Dan Harmon))) (@danharmon) January 23, 2017
Yes I would. I would tolerate all jokes. I do tolerate all jokes. And so do you. Because we have not lost our motherfucking god damn minds. https://t.co/dltmQtpEAX — (((Dan Harmon))) (@danharmon) January 23, 2017
I’m sure Katie Rich will have better offers but I’ll start bidding, will fly her to LA first class and give her what my studio pays me — (((Dan Harmon))) (@danharmon) January 23, 2017
As Co.Create points out, there’s an “unspoken rule†in politics that children are off-limits when it comes to jokes, but that rule hasn’t really been followed by SNL over the years – remember when Mike Myers and Dana Carvey mocked Chelsea Clinton, Chris Farley played Rudy Giuliani’s son, or the “Bush Twins†sketch with Amy Poehler and Tina Fey? This all goes without mentioning that a comedy show fired a comedian for tweeting a joke, yet Donald Trump has proven that a presidential candidate can not only mock disabled reporters and talk about grabbing women by the pussy and not get fired, but become president. So why is a comedy writer held to a higher standard than the President of the United States?