The violence unleashed by Hamas against innocent Jews—in an unprovoked attack—needs to be roundly condemned by everyone. We should also condemn expressions of hatred that are non-violent; they may incite some to act. What happened on “Saturday Night Live” this weekend is an example of this genre.
Out of the blue, “SNL” host Pete Davidson said the following in his opening monologue:
“You guys, I’m from Staten Island, so this is a big deal to me. I grew up right around here. If you don’t know what Staten Island is, it’s the only island in the world with a worse reputation than Epstein’s somehow [the reference was to Jeffrey Epstein, the serial molester]. But in Staten Island, the kids molest the priests. Everything’s backwards down there.”
Davidson’s bigotry runs deep. To launch an unprovoked attack on priests—there was no segue whatsoever—shows his pathological hatred. It is a sign of our times that innocent priests are still fair game to be smeared, and that the guilty parties pay no price for their vitriol.
Davidson tragically lost his dad, a member of the FDNY, on 9/11. It’s too bad that event didn’t trigger in him a commitment to fighting hatred. Instead, he has become a promoter of it.
Contact Lauren Roseman, Senior VP NBC Entertainment Publicity: lauren.roseman@nbcuni.com
