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THR, Salon

‘SNL’ Cast Member Under Fire for Comments About Harassment Video

Oct 31, 2014  •  Post A Comment

One of the cast members on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” is taking heat for comments about a viral video aimed at exposing sexual harassment.

Michael Che sparked criticism for comparing the harassment shown in the video “10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman” to his own experiences being approached by fans, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

As previously reported, aspiring actress Shoshana Roberts used a hidden camera to tape the catcalls she received while walking around New York City for 10 hours. Roberts said the harassment “on a daily basis — this day included — feels awful.”

Che wrote a Facebook post comparing sexual harassment to being approached by crazed fans, the story notes. The post has since been deleted.

“i wanna apologize to all the women that ive harrassed with statements like ‘hi’ or ‘have a nice day’ or ‘youre beautiful,’” Che wrote. “i cant imagine what that must feel like. the closest thing I’ve experienced is maybe when a girl recognizes me from tv and they say things like ‘AHHHH!! OH MY GOD!! SNL SNL SNL!! TAKE A PICTURE!! TAKE A PICTURE!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!! WHATS YOUR NAME AGAIN?! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! WAIT SAY SOMETHING FUNNY!!’ but even that is nothing like the harrassment of having a complete stranger tell me to ‘smile.'”

Che’s comments were “totally unhelpful,” writes Katie McDonough in Salon.

“My first and main thought is that we do not hear about many women assaulting or murdering ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast members they meet in bars or on the street, but we do actually have women getting assaulted and murdered after being harassed by men on the street, so I am not really feeling Che’s parallel. But he’s free to make it, of course. Because free speech and America,” McDonough writes.

michael che

Michael Che

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