SNL air heinous Tourette’s ‘jokes’

Hollywood is still hell-bent on attacking a man with Tourette’s. Most disgusting of all was Saturday Night Live’s (SNL) sketch in which celebrities who’ve been accused of various harmful actions ‘jokingly’ blamed their actions on Tourette’s.

Last week was absolutely horrific to witness as a disabled person. In the aftermath of the BBC airing a man with Tourette’s shouting the N word at two black actors, disabled people, and particularly people with Tourette’s, faced off-the-scale hatred.

SNL airs fucking disgusting sketch

Don’t get me wrong, Black people had every right to be hurt and upset about what happened, even though many attacked them for being hurt. And, disabled people were shot down when it came to correcting misinformation. Social media, the papers and TV were full of people essentially saying that people with Tourette’s should not be allowed in public.

Seeing that was bad enough, but then Saturday Night Live aired a fucking horrific sketch.

In the skit, celebrities who are seen as ‘controversial’ speak to the camera in a personal service announcement style. They tell the audience that actually their horrific behaviour isn’t their fault. In the scenario they realised, thanks to the BAFTA incident, that they have Tourette’s.

Firstly, we see a comedian playing Mel Gibson excusing his own behaviour with Tourette’s. Just to remind everyone, Gibson previously said that Jews rule the world and told his ex-girlfriend she should be raped by Black men. This attempts to place intentional racism as somehow comparable to something involuntary i.e. Tourette’s tics. Thus, the ‘joke’ suggests says that John Davidson was intentionally racist.

But it gets worse.

The sketch also features several known abusers, excusing their actions with Tourette’s. Louis CK blaming exposing himself to women on Tourette’s; Armie Hammer excusing mentally and physically abusing women via Tourette’s; Bill Cosby saying he drugged and raped multiple women because he has Tourette’s.

The message is clear: we don’t believe you

By ‘excusing’ intentional abuse, harm, and other heinous actions via Tourette’s, it’s portraying the condition itself as an excuse. As last week has brought to the fore, Tourette’s is not intentional, and people with the condition are often deeply distressed by their tics.

The message to people with Tourette’s is clear: we don’t believe you and think you’re weaponising your disability

But it also sends a clear message to all disabled people who’ve been trying to raise awareness of a deeply misunderstood condition.

It’s bad enough to see a disabled man mocked by the biggest comedy show in the world. But to then have his disability used to excuse some of the most horrific celebrities who have committed the very worst crimes is inexcusable. SNL knew exactly what they were doing. They took a scenario that sparked widespread anti-Blackness and ableism, and made a further mockery of people with Tourette’s.

The video is the very definition of punching down.

Featured image via X