Former Saturday Night Live (SNL) star Cecily Strong reportedly pulled out last minute from performing in Saturday’s widely-panned cold open, which targeted GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY) for her questions during a recent Congressional hearing on anti-Semitism in colleges and universities instead of the college leaders who were widely criticized for their testimonies.
Strong rehearsed the sketch earlier in the week as Stefanik, according to a report from The Wrap, but was ultimately swapped for a relatively new cast member named Chloe Troast.
It remains unclear why Strong did not play Stefanik in the final sketch; she has not commented publicly on the matter. There has been speculation that the former SNL star will be back next week when fellow alum Kate McKinnon is set to make her return to host the sketch show.
Despite the Congressional hearing already culminating in at least one university president resigning from her position, SNL decided to largely take aim at Stefanik, who appeared visibly stunned that the collegiate leaders seemed to run cover for students she said had been “calling for the genocide of Jews.”
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University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, for example, refused to acknowledge that calling for the genocide of Jews violates UPenn’s code of conduct on bullying and harassment. Magill resigned on Saturday following wide backlash, as reported by The Daily Wire.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay was similarly questioned about whether calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard’s codes of conduct. She responded by saying that it depends “on the context.” Gay added that calling for genocide is “at odds with the values of Harvard” and that when that kind of “speech crosses into conduct, that violates our policies.”
There have since been calls for Gay to resign from her position. And compounding her problems, the university president is now under fire for allegations of plagiarism on her Harvard dissertation.
Conservatives online quickly reacted to the SNL sketch. Conservative Emily Zanotti, for example, posted on X, “I mean, I get that SNL is typically a mess, but how do you watch that hearing and come out of it thinking Stefanik was the right target of satire?”
Radio host Rob Carson commented, “If there is no truth in satire, it’s not funny. This isn’t funny.”
“How to explain SNL siding with Ivy league (sic) neo-racists? Wondering what colleges their writers attended,” Fox News host Greg Gutfeld wrote.
Related: ‘A New Low’: SNL Wrecked For Skit Mocking Elise Stefanik In College Anti-Semitism Hearing