On Saturday, NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” ran a completely unfunny skit with cast member Cecily Strong dressed as a clown named “Goober” boasting that she had had an abortion before her 23rd birthday, declaring, “It’s gonna happen so it oughta be safe, legal and accessible.”
SNL cast member Colin Jost “interviewed” Strong, beginning with this preamble: “The Supreme Court heard arguments this week in Women’s Whole Health v. Texas about the controversial Texas law that essentially bans all abortions after just six weeks. Here to cheer us up — well, this can’t be right — Goober the clown, who had an abortion when she was 23.”
Strong: Hey, hey! I’m Goober the clown.
Jost: So, Goober, you had an abortion when you were 23?
Strong: Whoa. Slow down. I’m a clown. Let’s clown around. Hey, smell this flower.
Jost: You’re not gonna squirt me, are ya?
Strong: Oh, I would never.
Jost, bending toward her, “Okay.”
Strong, squirting him, “Oh, gotcha. Gotcha. I had an abortion the day before my 23rd birthday!”
Jost, laughing, “Okay. It seems like you do want to talk about your abortion.”
Strong: Well, actually, I really don’t. But people keep bringing it up, so I gotta keep talking about freaking abortion. But it’s a rough subject, so we’re gonna do fun clown stuff to make it more palatable. Whee! Hey, who wants a balloon animal? You want a giraffe?
Jost: You don’t have to do this, Cecily?
Strong: Who’s Cecily? I’m Goober. And I wish I didn’t have to do this because the abortion I had at 23 is my personal clown business. But that’s all some people in this country wanna discuss all the time, even though clown abortion was legalized in Clown v. Wade in 1973. (handing him a balloon)
Jost: Can you stop saying clown abortion? And what is this?
Strong: It’s a worm, I don’t know. Hey! Hey! Did you know one in three clowns will have a clown abortion in her lifetime? You don’t cause they don’t tell you. They don’t even know how to talk to other clowns about it, because when they do talk about it, if you were a clown who wasn’t a victim of something sad, like clowncest, they think your clown abortion wasn’t a righteous clown abortion, I mean, what the dick is that?
Jost: I don’t think you can say that word on the show.
Strong: What, abortion?
Jost: I guess, kinda, yeah.
Strong: You know, it’s funny Colin, we’re having fun, just laugh. Pull my finger.
Jost: No.
Strong: Laugh. I need it. I need you to laugh so hard, like the way I laughed when the doctor asked if I got pregnant on the way over to the clinic, cause I wasn’t very far along. And that is one of my favorite jokes to this day. I love that joke; it’s such a good joke, not like a funny ha-ha joke, but like, a funny you’re-not-an-awful-person-and-your-life-isn’t-over-now joke, the best kind. A honka honka! Good horn!
…
I’m not a clown. And in the waiting room, they had a little guest book where all the clowns could write their clown abortion story for the next clown to read it so she wouldn’t feel so alone. Awooga! And then years later, you’ll be at a dinner with a big group of clowns. One clown will go out on a limb and say she’s had an abortion and then like eight other clowns at the table will say they’ve had an abortion too cause that’s how common it is, and then everyone’s excited and relieved to be talking about it, but it’s like, “Wow! We kept this secret for so long despite being so grateful it happened.” Honka honka!
Jost: So, I’m, wait, are clowns really women?
Strong: Excuse me? Wow, okay, Colin Jost thinks women are clowns. Cool.
Jost: That’s not what I said.
Strong, swallowing some helium, “Here’s my truth. I know I wouldn’t be a clown on TV here today if it weren’t for the abortion I had the day before my 23rd birthday. Clowns have been helping each other and their pregnancies since the caves. It’s gonna happen so it oughta be safe, legal, and accessible. We will not go back to the alley. I mean, the last thing anyone wants is a bunch of dead clowns in a dark alley.”
Jost: “Goober the clown, everyone!”
Goober the Clown
(who had an abortion when she was 23) pic.twitter.com/1rFv6UrPGu— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) November 7, 2021
Social media condemned the skit en masse:
Sacrificing your child to play a clown on SNL.
Not worth it. https://t.co/41HlcpSLt0
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) November 8, 2021
This is the single, saddest, most not funny thing I've ever seen in my life. Pitiful and soulless. And painful. And sad. https://t.co/Hbm9KenL3P
— Annie Frey (@anniefreyshow) November 8, 2021
This is not funny. This is insane. https://t.co/iX2K7J4EzN
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) November 7, 2021
This is one of the saddest, most asinine things I’ve ever seen.
Over 60 million human beings have been killed LEGALLY in our country since 1973. That’s the Holocaust times ten. It’s the greatest human rights crisis of our time, and these folks think “Goober” is an apt answer. https://t.co/s4xLl48s4D
— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) November 8, 2021
There is nothing funny about abortion, it is the horrific murder of a baby in the womb by puncturing its skull. This isn't funny Comcast NBC. https://t.co/ioqxoQLCvd
— Mary Miller (@Miller_Congress) November 7, 2021
This skit is like if Samantha Bee and Hannah Gadsby mind-melded to create the unfunniest thing in human history. That's how bad it is. https://t.co/2IXHd7ONb5
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) November 7, 2021
The left is simply not funny in any way. https://t.co/PJ7wUj7FL1
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) November 7, 2021
SNL’s target audience has become those who think Hannah Gadsby is funny… and not those who think Dave Chappelle is funny. https://t.co/7yGqE8Ufji
— Joseph A. Wulfsohn (@JosephWulfsohn) November 7, 2021
Everyone involved in @nbcsnl is garbage https://t.co/718FZWXXDp
— Dan Gainor (@dangainor) November 7, 2021
I see what they're trying to do, but the character they created is clearly haunted by their abortion and seeking others in the same boat to try to convince herself it's perfectly normal and OK. Surprised @nbcsnl put this on the air. https://t.co/GhiYLuVQpc
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) November 7, 2021
left-wing comedy has become…
*checks notes*
abortion clownery https://t.co/MS1n41MOWW
— Angela Morabito (@AngelaLMorabito) November 8, 2021