Emmy Host: 'The Only White People that Thank Jesus Are Republicans and Ex-Crackheads'
Emmy co-host Michael Che drew laughs and complaints for a joke he made about only Republicans and ex-crackheads being willing to thank Jesus at awards shows.
During the 70th Annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Monday night, Che and fellow Saturday Night Life star Colin Jost kicked off the program with jokes mostly poking fun at the entertainment industry.
“We just want to say a quick hello to the thousands of you here in the audience tonight and to the hundreds watching at home,” said Jost.
“My mother is not watching,” Che noted. “She says she doesn’t like watching white award shows because you guys don’t thank Jesus enough.”
He continued, “That’s true. The only white people that thank Jesus are Republicans and ex-crackheads.”
Let the #Emmys begin!
Watch @ColinJost & Michael Che's full monologue.👇 pic.twitter.com/AdeCloNr6X
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) September 18, 2018
The joke seemed to not go over particularly well in the room and drew some negative responses online.
One woman tweeted, “Michael Che – do not knock JC – Jesus is just all right with me.”
Michael Che – do not knock JC – Jesus is just all right with me. #emmys
— Mary Beth Coudal (@MaryBethC) September 18, 2018
Another woman wrote, “Very poor taste and not funny at all! By the way Michael Che, I am white, I thank Jesus all day, I am not republican and I have never done crack in my life.”
Stil another commented, “Hollywood may have laughed when Emmys host Michael Che said the only white people who thank Jesus are ‘Republicans and ex-crackheads,’ but Tinseltown’s latest middle finger to Middle America fell flat in flyover country.”
Evangelist Franklin Graham tweeted that Che’s mother has a point: “We don’t thank Jesus enough — all people, all races.”
At the Emmys, Michael Che said his mom wouldn’t watch white award shows because white people don't thank Jesus enough. She has a point! We don’t thank Jesus enough—all people, all races. 1/2 https://t.co/TOe6WcNqQx
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) September 18, 2018
Actress Chrissy Teigen said, “Thank you, Jesus” to her husband John Legend during the Emmys, joking that one was for Che.
Legend received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal in the title role in the television adaptation of the play “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
"Thank you, Jesus," Chrissy Teigen tells her husband John Legend, who played the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar. That one was for Michael Che, she joked. #Emmys
— Emily McFarlan Miller (@emmillerwrites) September 18, 2018
During the Emmy’s opening song, actor Sterling Brown, star of NBC’s “This Is Us” also made light of Hollywood’s lack of political diversity.
“This room is so diverse from Democrat to liberal Democrat,” he sang.
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