Normally when a comedy writer creates a viral tweet, it’s a small success. But that certainly wasn’t the case on Friday when Katie Rich fired off a quickly-deleted tweet that didn’t just divide people among political lines – it seemed to split the world of comedy as well.
Amid the ceremony and chatter taking place during Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Saturday Night Live writer tweeted:
It didn’t go over well. The denizens of the internet predictably took her to task for targeting Donald Trump’s 10-year-old son. As has become Internet-shame protocol at this point, Rich deleted the tweet and made her account private shortly after issuing this apology, which remains on Twitter:
Rich was “suspended indefinitely,” by SNL, and her name was absent from the show’s credit’s last weekend, though it’s not clear if that omission was punitive or a function of simply not writing anything included in the episode.
The TV show’s swift and some would say harsh punishment is now also making waves in the comedy world. Comedians are accusing the show of bowing to public pressure in their issuance of a knee-jerk punishment for a joke that many felt was fair game.
One such person was Dan Harmon, the creator of beloved shows such as Community and Rick and Morty. Rather than just offer up some outrage, condolences, or moralizing, Harmon made Katie Rich a job offer – from the looks of it, it might be a huge step up from her SNL gig:
The date stamps of these messages appear to run counter to their logical sequence, but the minds of comedy writers are bizarre places.
“Aaaaaaaand hired.” from Harmon seems to convey his willingness to employ her rather than Rich’s acceptance of a job from him. That said, based on the terms outlined in his last tweet, his offer might be a serious step up for the writer.
While many of Rich’s peers aren’t in a position to offer employment, they did tweet like madmen in support of her right (and, maybe, duty) to make that joke in a political climate that elects presidential candidates who brag about grabbing pussies.
(That’s unconfirmed but probably true.)
It should come as little surprise that when it comes to matters pertaining to Trump’s presidency, even the controversies are mired in their own sub-controversies.
No word yet from Rich on, well, anything really, save for the apology tweet, but perhaps she could simply refer to the show’s skits mocking Rudy Giuliani’s son or the Bush twins as evidence that SNL’s at best a little…inconsistent in policing this sort of thing.
Or she could leave the matter be knowing that SNL’s action here certainly won’t endear them to comedians in either hosting or starring capacities in the future.
