Donald Trump Hosts Saturday Night Live and Hollywood Says F**k You to Latinos
by Vanessa Verduga
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend and delivered big ratings as predicted, which is precisely why producer Lorne Michaels brought him back. He did so in spite of a Latino community protest, several advocacy group protests, and even knowing that there were protesters right outside NBC Studios making a scene.
Viewers tuned in Saturday to watch several sketches of very awkward comedy, Trump campaigning for president, and of course, Larry David yelling out “Trump is a racist!” for $5,000 dollars granted from the Deport Racism advocacy group. Naturally, the bit was a joke, even though David did collect $5,000 according to the Deport Racism group, which said “Joke or not…it’s true.”
Next week, SNL will feature another Hollywood star, Elizabeth Banks, and everything will return to normal, right? No, according to some very prominent members of the Latino community who claim that their Saturday Night Live boycott is the real thing and the protest is far from over.
And it’s not just because Donald Trump is trolling the media as he’s been doing all year long. The problem is that for a long time now, Hollywood has been disrespecting the Latino community and Trump’s appearance on the show was the icing on the cake—a cake that went flying right into the face of a lazy-stealing-Mexican-rapist-illegal-immigrant stereotype that Hollywood thinks is hilarious.
What many people misunderstand about the issue is that it’s not a matter of silencing Donald Trump for his blatantly racist views. The problem is that many other members of the Hollywood elite have been blacklisted over the last several years for saying and doing far less than what Trump has said, and it’s a shocking double standard. The Latino Community is tired of letting White Hollywood get away with murder when it comes to allowing slanderous remarks about their people and culture, while still claiming to be a politically correct and non-hostile working environment.
What Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels did was give Donald Trump a huge platform to campaign for president and profited well from it. He certainly didn’t need Donald Trump but sought him out and gave him just what his presidential campaign wanted—more airtime. This was not merely “free speech” but corporately sponsored free speech that literally cost millions to produce.
Is There Anything Wrong with Using Controversy to Generate Publicity for a Show?
The age-old argument that controversy sells has long been retired in Hollywood, at least when it comes to the right kind of people.
Consider other well-known cases in which Hollywood turned on celebrities for their unacceptable opinions, either blacklisting them or even firing them from their shows.
- Paula Dean – For making racist comments about African Americans in private
- Mel Gibson – For making racist comments about Jews, gays and women in private
- Isaiah Washington – For making homophobic comments in an interview
- Hulk Hogan – For making racist comments on a radio show
- Jim Caviezel – For playing the role of Jesus in a Mel Gibson movie
- Rolan Martin – For tweeting homophobic comments
- Alec Baldwin – For shouting homophobic comments at paparazzi
- Kirk Cameron – For holding fundamentalist Christian views on many lifestyles
Actually, if you remember the well documented history of Saturday Night Live you would find that many celebrities have been permanently banned from the show for breaking protocol, saying offensive things to the cast, and generally being politically incorrect.
Banned Stars from SNL (Proof that SNL DOES discriminate when it feels the need)
- Chevy Chase
- Adrien Brody
- Steven Segal
- Sinead O’Connor
- Martin Lawrence
- Milton Berle
- Elvis Costello
- Frank Zappa
- Charles Grodin
- Robert Blake
The truth is that Saturday Night Live allowed Donald Trump to campaign for president under the guise of comedy and did so in defiance of the Latino community, who made their protests known. In all likelihood, they orchestrated this event just to provoke Latinos and get them riled up about it, all the while benefitting from huge viewership.
It’s hard to imagine Lorne Michaels supporting an actor or director who publicly or even privately said offensive things about African Americans, gays or lesbians, transgender Americans, Christians or Jews.
Which brings up a certain elephant in the room topic.
The Jewish Parallel
Shouldn’t Lorne Michaels as a Jew in Hollywood, and one that has no doubt heard the anti-Semitic remark that “Jews run Hollywood”, know better than to buy into offensive stereotypes or support someone that uses them for profit? It’s very likely that Lorne Michaels’ parents or grandparents faced bigotry when first arriving to North America. When Jewish families first arrived in America and Canada, many lived in ghettoes and faced racist attitudes coming from whites, German sympathizers and other anti-Semites that were definitely anti-immigration.
The circumstances that necessitated the arrival of North American Jews was a chilling parallel of the plight of Latinos today. The Madagascar Plan was proposed by Nazi Germany as a relocation plan for the Jews, which would send these unwanted and “troublesome” people to the now German occupied former French colony.
Before Nazis decided on the Final Solution they encouraged emigration of the Jewish population, then planned for forced deportation. The Final Solution of genocide was just that—a final move after their other strategies proved unfeasible and the estimates of how many Jews could be settled in Madagascar proved to be too challenging for their future plans.
The Madagascar Plan is very similar to what Trump wants to do with Latino undocumented immigrants, in lack of a better solution—ship them all out to Mexico because they are essentially, thugs, drug dealers, rapists and “bad people.” With his construction of a “Wall”, Trump would quite possibly outdo President Obama in the total number of Latino deportations, which would break up countless families, deport legal Latino citizens whose parents were never able to qualify for citizenship, and probably resulting in many deaths, considering the added possibility of police violence against protesters and criminal activity happening in Mexico.
Of all people, Jewish Hollywood—who so boldly stands up for the LGBT community and African American racism—should understand why Trump’s presidential campaigning was not appropriate for an entertainment show like Saturday Night Live.
What was Lorne Michaels excuse? Besides ratings, which we’ve established mean nothing when facing allegations of bigotry that usually gets a person banned?
The Trump / SNL Boycott Lacks Strong Leadership
Some celebrity Latinos have joined the boycott, including John Leguizamo. Director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (Birdman) has also spoken against what he calls xenophobic comments.
However, many high-profile stars have done the unthinkable and defended NBC’s decision, as if they had no choice but to accommodate Trump’s “rights”. Latino TV star Eva Longoria said “This is part freedom of speech, freedom of press…Trump has his right…not only that, Lorne Michaels has a right to book whoever he wants.”
Coincidentally, or not so coincidentally, Longoria is also sleeping with the enemy. She has a new show coming out on NBC Telenovela and has everything to lose in upsetting her bosses and other VIPs behind the scenes. All of whom are conspicuously white, Jewish and not Latino.
One could literally count the number of Latino stars that have been part of the cast of Saturday Night Liveover the yearson one hand—two. For that matter, only 19 of the 790 SNL episodes over the past 40 years have had a Latino guest host.
Rather than actually stand behind Latino comedians on the show, Lorne Michaels instead relegates them to digital platforms, including his upcoming digital channel “Broadway Video” where Latinos can produce their own sketches, get popular, and then pay Lorne Michaels extra Internet advertising profit. It’s a great business strategy – invest nothing, keep Latinos off of network television, while letting their sworn enemy campaign on his show, and then profit from the suck-ups who still think they can get famous with a viral video.
This idea of “giving back” to the Latino community in the form of a digital production is not at all reparations for the blatant prejudice that has consistently been shown by Hollywood. It’s vanity producing and predatory to the artist who really thinks these powerful people are doing them a favor by letting them perform on a medium that is already free. It’s clearly a matter of Latinos pandering to Latinos and the answer is a firm “Thanks but no thanks!” from the boycotters.
The Trump–SNL debacle and the Latinos who supported it are more patronizing than any offensive stereotype on a comedy sketch. Whatever great strides or triumphs we thought we had as a united front all seem worthless now.
We’re not fighting for equality if this is what we’re up against. We’re fighting for the right to exist, living in the same territory as our white “superiors” who are “legal”. We continue to be treated as second-class citizens and when push comes to shove we have no power because our own supposed leaders are in bed with the powers that be.
This is why now more than ever the Latino Community needs to stick together and boycott NBC, Telemundo, and all of Saturday Night Live’s sponsors, who never thought that letting a self-admitted xenophobe would be upsetting to us.
How Times Have Changed
A long time ago, now-retired talk show host David Letterman admitted that a certain presidential candidate offered to do comedy sketches on his show. Letterman declined his request because he knew that it wasn’t in the interest of comedy—it was just a political campaign, an advertisement. His show wasn’t going to be a platform for an agenda. Common sense, right?
Have we fallen so far from civility and class that we consider Donald Trump an entertainer? That his contributions to comedy are so important that it’s worth offending millions of Latinos fighting for their very lives?
Or are we only being suckered by Hollywood who doesn’t seem to care about Latino issues, but would rather give airtime to a racist buffoon trolling the media, rather than actually bring on a Latino comic that’s funny?
According to a story from The Huffington Post, in the midst of all the Donald Trump protesting taking place outside NBC Studios, there was one lone protester who held up a sign reading “Google it!!! Jews control Comcast NBC”. He was quickly escorted out of the main protest area by police and taken away from the cameras.
Because of course, that was just plain racist.
Join the Boycott!
#RacismIsntFunny. Freedom of speech means the freedom to boycott SNL and NBC/Telemundo for being sellouts. A united community has the power to make a statement of protest by boycotting the sponsors for Saturday Night Live.
Vanessa Verduga is an actor, writer, singer, director, producer and lawyer committed to examining social issues for their impact on the underprivileged and disenfranchised. She is the creator and star of the popular award-winning web series and comic book Justice Woman, which follows the story of an Assistant District Attorney, by day, who becomes a defender of truth and justice at night. Vanessa also stars and produces H.O.M.E., a feature film that examines the loss of communication told through the immigrant’s perspective, as well as The Hunting for Lost Characters, a sci-fi action short film that follow’s one man’s desperate attempt to save himself from deletion. Most recently, her dark comedy play The Implications of Cohabitaton has been picked up for a New York City off-Broadway production. Vanessa is also a member of the Women in Comics Collective NYC International, an artistic and informative initiative that seeks to educate communities about the role and value of Women working in the comic book profession. For more on Vanessa, visit http://www.VanessaVerduga.com
L. A. Breaux 
Subversify Staff
In a final push to ensure the “workplace rights” of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Obama administration continues to sign pacts with foreign countries guaranteeing to protect their nationals from discrimination on the job.
This month its Ecuador’s turn and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws, is sealing the deal. In past years the Department of Labor (DOL) has executed similar agreements with an assortment of countries, including Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and India. In fact, under Obama’s first Labor Secretary, former California Congresswoman, and influential La Raza figure Hilda Solis, the DOL signed a number of these “partnership agreements” vowing to protect illegal aliens working in the U.S.
Solis even created a special division at the DOL to enforce labor and wage laws in industries that typically hire illegal aliens without reporting anyone to federal immigration authorities. Protecting the workplace rights of “vulnerable” migrants was a big priority at the agency under her leadership. During a ceremony to celebrate pacts with several foreign countries Solis said that “migrant workers make important contributions to our economy,” and that the deals will “help ensure these workers are aware of the right to safe workplaces and to receive full payment of the wages owed to them under the laws of the United States.”
The effort continues and has carried over to other government entities such as the EEOC, an out-of-control agency which is always on the prowl for discrimination even when it’s not there. Last year Judicial Watch reported that, to keep with the Obama administration’s mission of operating a politically correct government, nearly half of the federal agency rulings dismissing employee discrimination were overturned by the EEOC. This cost American taxpayers an astounding $51.4 billion to settle discrimination claims that often had no merit. The EEOC has also taken unprecedented legal action against businesses nationwide, accusing them of everything from discriminating against minorities for running criminal background and credit checks to discriminating against Muslims for not allowing hijabs at work.
Next week the agency will sign a National Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ecuador to “provide Ecuadorian nationals with information, guidance, and access to education and training resources to help them exercise their workplace rights.” The deal will “establish ongoing collaboration to fight discrimination,” according to an EEOC announcement. The agency will hold a ceremony at its Washington D.C. headquarters on November 10 to execute the MOU with Ecuadorian Ambassador Francisco Borja Cevallos. Its part of an agency plan to “protect the rights of immigrants, migrants and other vulnerable workers,” according to the EEOC announcement.
Earlier this year the agency signed similar contracts with the Philippines and Mexico, the nation that sends the U.S. the largest number of illegal immigrants. Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Medina boasted that the pact “formalizes a fruitful and standing relationship between Mexico” and the EEOC and that the joint effort empowers Mexican workers in the U.S. EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien said that “stopping and remedying unlawful employment discrimination against immigrant, migrant and other vulnerable workers” is an agency priority. Here is the link to the actual MOU, which outlines the overall objective, training and education, outreach and communication and promotion of a dialogue.
These are tips today from the pages of Judicial Watch and internal pages of the Corruption Files that will hidden from the public by the biased media.
Hillary Clinton Violated Law on Classified Material? — Hillary Clinton thinks she’s above the law, including a key law regarding the protection of classified material that, if released, could compromise our nation’s security and get a lot of people killed. That’s why we filed a Freedom of Information. Read more at JW.
Fairfax County Public Schools Sues Judicial Watch To Keep “Transgender” Policy Records Secret before Key Election — Judicial Watch announced that on Friday, October 30, the Fairfax County School Board sued Judicial Watch rather than turn over records prior to Election Day concerning. Read more at JW.
Judicial Watch Asks Appeals Court to Halt Race-Based, Separatist Election in Hawaii — Judicial Watch announced today that it has filed an Urgent Motion for Injunction with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stop a race-based, state-sponsored, Hawaiians-only election that violates. Read more at JW.
NO NEED FOR MASS DEPORTATION, JUST IMPLEMENT MANDATORY E-VERIFY?
If American Democrats had at least one brain cell, (Liberal Radicals are absent of even one) How many enjoy the Democrats and Liberals by voting for them, so they can get so many benefits for–NOTHING? A majority are ‘Freeloaders’ are from the illegal foreigners, who want to take advantage of other peoples money.Voters otherwise they would realize taxes are taken out of their pay check to financially support low income illegal aliens? A tax credit for their children and many benefits the Obama Administration has issued to them is unlawful. Every time another family arrives your family loses a few more dollars, forced from you by the aggressive IRS. Every time they slip across the porous border, your Child’s school will be further cramped and YOU of course pay for it all.
SO THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER KEEPS PAYING AND PAYING; PAYING AND PAYING.
In California they will be handing out MediCal, for illegal aliens costing the states taxpayers $$billions of state dollars. In California the state is inundated by millions of illegal immigrants and migrants and those taxpayers carry the unfair burden. Illegal aliens are stealing our jobs by the hundreds of thousands or even millions, citizen benefits and the American dream. Numerous states including California are issuing drivers licenses to foreign nationals along with the Motor Voter application and not informing that only citizens are allowed to vote.
There is ONLY one possible American people’s messiah to stop the Obama Administration giving away our Constitutional rights and that is Donald Trump. He is the only true new Statesman who will stop the illegal alien invasion, except perhaps for the aid of Senator Ted Cruz? The rest of the presidential pack has no true answers or their remarks determined they will do nothing. Donald Trump has two powerful deterrents? MANDATORY E-VERIFY UNLEASHED UPON EVERY WORKPLACE BY ICE AGENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT. BUSINESS OWNER THAT IGNORES THE LAW WOULD FACE HEAVY MONETARY PUNISHMENT AND EVEN JAIL.
TRUMP DOESN’T NEED TO DEPORT ANYBODY, MANDATORY E-VERIFY WILL CLEAR THE WORKPLACE OF UNAUTHORIZED WORKERS. NO OPTIONS AS WE HAVE NOW? ARREST AND DEPORT. OR GIVE ILLEGAL ALIEN WORKERS OF REPATRIATING THEMSELVES? RECRUITING MORE ICE AGENTS TO RAID BUSINESS AND REWARDING INFORMANTS OF ILLEGAL NATIONALS DOING JOBS CITIZENS AND LAWFUL RESIDENCE CAN DO; EASY AND ACCEPTABLE.
In the United States there are an estimated 92 million Americans trying to scratch a living; underemployed and the rest trying to survive on food stamps and social welfare. The citizens and green card recipients are joined now by the well under estimated census numbers of 12 million illegal immigrants and migrants.
It’s very beneficial to American workers that Judicial Watch, http://www.judicialwatch.org is a key non profit, legal organization, which probes with great accuracy the corruption that surrounds elected officials. The Corruption Chronicles relays to the public hidden investigation information.
Trump is a dangerous lunatic. He’s got the ignorance of Bush, the all-around evilness of Rumsfeld, and the batshit crazy of Cheney. He’s the Republicans’ trifecta.
Seventeen percent of the US population claims a Hispanic heritage. The states with the largest percentage; California and Texas; have a long history of Hispanic heritage going back at least two hundred years. While sixty-two percent of the US population claim an all-white heritage, another fifteen percent claim a white/mixed heritage. Mixed can be Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Black.
In contrast, fifteen percent of the US population claims an African American heritage. You would not be able to discern the population demographics by watching an American television show or movie. There are plenty of all-black shows (with a few token whites thrown in), black heroes and black characters sprinkled in to balance predominantly white plots. Why not Hispanics?
Forty percent of the Los Angeles County, California, is Hispanic. By Trump’s calculations, this is to imply that forty percent of Los Angeles is made up of illegal immigrants, gangsters and welfare recipients. By Hollywood’s presentation of California life, Hispanics barely exist.
Hispanics are the most under-represented minority group in the United States. When you combine the statistics of Hispanic with mixed white, you have nearly a quarter of the US population. Ten percent of Hispanics live in poverty; nearly double that of whites; which indicates a discrepancy in labor practices but not in the number of Hispanics willing to work. It also means ninety percent of Hispanics are contributing members of the work force, pay their taxes and support the economy.
It’s not tolerable to declare white supremacy in a country that was founded on equality for all people. It’s ridiculous to hold nearly a quarter of our people responsible for our economic demise when that quarter is made up primarily of hard-working individuals. It’s downright stupid to ignore the talents and skills of individuals simply because of their cultural/ ethnic orientation.
As far as SNL is concerned, I quit watching years ago when intelligent satire turned into slapstick comedy so I’ll have no trouble boycotting them. As far as Trump goes, the fascination the media has for him makes me ashamed to be an American.
[…] Here’s my latest article, published by Hispanic News Online, Latin Heat and Subversify, “Donald Trump Hosts SNL and Hollywood says F**K You to Latinos […]