Saturday Night Live (SNL) personality Pete Davidson took a jab at the Catholic Church on Mar. 9 over allegations of a large-scale child sex-abuse scandal. Davidson compared the controversy to convictions made against musical artist R. Kelly, who faces 10 counts of sex-abuse charges.
“This guy is a monster. He should go to jail forever," Davidson said. "But if you support the Catholic Church, isn’t that, like, the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan?”
“I don’t really see the difference. Only, like, one’s music is significantly better.” Davidson said. The comedian joked about how it takes a sex scandal for people to discover good music from the person involved.
“I’m not saying it’s an easy decision,” he continued. “Like, I’m just saying you don’t know how good someone’s music really is until you find out they’re a pedophile. And the reason everybody’s so upset is because R. Kelly and Michael Jackson made great music, you know? If I found out that Macklemore did some weird stuff, I’d be happy to free up the space on my I-phone.”
The Diocese of Brooklyn took offense to the skit, demanding that SNL and NBC apologize for Davidson’s comments.
“The statement clearly shocked the studio audience as gasps could be heard off camera,” the Diocese wrote in a statement released Monday. “Apparently, the only acceptable bias these days is against the Catholic Church. The faithful of our Church are disgusted by the harassment by those in news and entertainment, and this sketch offends millions. The mockery of this difficult time in the Church’s history serves no purpose.”
The Diocese said that they’ve strived to ensure that the clergy never commit acts of sexual abuse again by enforcing new regulations directed by the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. These new rules include a zero-tolerance policy on anyone within the clergy accused of performing sexual acts on a minor.
“It is likely that no other institution has done more than the Catholic Church to combat and prevent sexual abuse,” the Diocese concluded. “The insensitivity of the writers, producers, and the cast of SNL around this painful subject is alarming.”