The row over comedienne Leslie Jones’ skit on the “Slave Draft” during Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update this past weekend is not quieting down.
The SNL writer took to Twitter to defend herself and the skit. “It saddens me that BLACK PEOPLE b**ch and moan about the most stupid sh*t. I’m a comic it is my job to take things and make them funny,” she tweeted.
“Why are y’all so mad. This joke was written from the pain that one night I realized that black men don’t really f**k with me and why am I single. And that in slave days I would have always had a man cause of breeding.”
Jones even wondered if the joke would have gone over better had she been a Black man. “Very sad I have to defend myself to black people. Now I’m betting if Chris Rock or Dave Chappele [sic] did that joke or jay z or Kanye put in a rap they would be called brilliant. Cause they all do this type of material. Just cause it came from a strong black woman who ain’t afraid to be real y’all mad.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do a joke like that if I didn’t know my history or proud of where I came from and who I am,” continued Jones, adding that “I ain’t going nowhere.”
On The View earlier today, Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd defended Jones, saying if you knew her standup routine, you’d know this wasn’t new territory and Jones is known for pushing the envelope. “Kudos to Leslie Jones,” said Shepherd, while Goldberg called the skit “funny.”
What do you think? Do Jones’ tweets make you understand where she was coming from in the skit? Are we too sensitive about slavery jokes?