In Addition To Not Being Funny, SNL May Have Violated Election Law With Kamala Cameo
Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" last night - playing herself across from Maya Rudolph's version of her in the show's cold open.
Kamala Harris spent THREE HOURS rehearsing for this cringe fest on SNL.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) November 3, 2024
Complete with the fake black accent.
This is a tough watch. Good Lord. pic.twitter.com/B3RbafOsH9
It was essentially an exact copy of Trump's appearance in 2015, except not funny.
Kamala Harris SNL skit DIRECTLY copied Trump’s from 2015.
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) November 3, 2024
Can she do ANYTHING original at all? https://t.co/RX3zMprYfo pic.twitter.com/wwbdVJgig1
What's more, it may have violated election laws.
As Michael Shellenberger points out, "The producer of Saturday Night Live said neither Harris nor Trump would appear on the show "because of election laws." Last night, about 60 hours before polls open, he put Harris on the show in a warm & humanizing sketch. He and NBC violated the equal time provision of the law."
On October 1, 2024, Hollywood Reporter published this article. It said, "In a recent interview ahead of the show’s 50th season, SNL creator and long-running maestro Lorne Michaels revealed that he hadn’t reached out to the real-life candidates, and he didn’t intend to before the… pic.twitter.com/3olU8qMmeT
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) November 3, 2024
Continued:
That article linked to a September 19 interview between Michaels and SNL cast members, Colin Jost and Michael Che. Weirdly, however, the September 19 does not contain the Lorne Michaels quote referred to in the October 1 Hollywood Reporter article. Even more weirdly, neither does the WayBack Machine's first capture of the article on September 19.
The reason that's weird is that many media outlets reported on Michaels' statement in early October.
NBC clearly violated the law. In a 2022 fact sheet, FCC writes, "FCC rules seek to ensure that no legally qualified candidate for office is unfairly given less access to the airwaves – outside of bona fide news exemptions – than their opponent."
I will interview @BrendanCarrFCC about this at 11:45 ET on an X Spaces— please tune in https://t.co/PaCiLoVUfP
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) November 3, 2024