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Becca Monaghan
May 16, 2022
SNL medieval sketch addresses Roe v Wade and Depp v Heard trial
SNL
Saturday Night Liveparodied the ongoing defamation trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard – and viewers were not happy.
The actor, 58, is suing his ex-wife for $50m (£40.8m) for insinuating he had abused her in a 2018 Washington Post article. Despite not explicitly naming Depp, his legal team argued there was a “clear implication that Mr Depp is a domestic abuser”, which they say is “categorically and demonstrably false."
The cast performed a sketch based on the ongoing trial on Saturday's (14 May) episode of SNL.
“I know it’s not the most pertinent story at the moment,” Kate McKinnon said. “But with all the problems in the world, isn’t it nice to have a news story we all can collectively say ‘, glad it ain’t me?’”
She then turned to the "live coverage" of the trial and spoofed one of the trial's biggest talking points: the infamous 'poop' incident. The segment showed the cast claiming they had found "lost footage", with Kyle Mooney playing Depp.
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For context, Depp had previously claimed that a "faecal matter" was found on his side of the bed after an argument on Heard's 30th birthday. His security guard sent the actor a photo. Depp said that Heard "tried to blame it on the dogs," which he alleged was untrue.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Trial Cold Open - SNLwww.youtube.com
People have since slammed the skit on social media, with one saying it made them feel "sick to my stomach."
#SNL There\u2019s nothing funny about emotional, psychological and physical abuse that Amber Heard and Johnny Depp have done to each other.— Svetlana Loves Reality TV (@Svetlana Loves Reality TV) 1652588779
did SNL really do a Johnny depp/ amber heard skit? that\u2019s actually disgusting and desperate.— anu (@anu) 1652647213
It\u2019s been nearly 24 hours and I\u2019m still sick to my stomach that @nbcsnl did a cold open making light of the Amber Heard/Johnny Depp trial.\n\nThis isn\u2019t a joke, it\u2019s a story of horrific abuse and just shows how little regard we have for survivors.— Katrina Bleckley (@Katrina Bleckley) 1652663765
SNL did a sketch about the amber heard v Johnny depp trial and god damn I wish they were funny enough to get away with jokes about a domestic abuse trial.— Metal Gear Adam (@Metal Gear Adam) 1652672002
everyone involved in the Johnny depp/amber heard trial skit at snl is going to hell in gasoline undies because ain\u2019t no way people sat down, pitched the idea, wrote it, practiced it for a week and still saw nothing wrong with it— selling sunset music supervisor (@selling sunset music supervisor) 1652592830
Who watched the Johnny Depp trial/cold open on Saturday Night Live? This might actually be the cast and group of writers that gets SNL canceled.— Taco Enema (@Taco Enema) 1652667480
Lmao @nbcsnl is sooooooooo Corny .. they should\u2019ve BEEN fired their writers but this Johnny depp skit \u2026\u2026 really just sealed the deal. Lmao cornyyyy as fuck. I miss MAD TV.— Ashanty (@Ashanty) 1652646271
i just saw someone try to defend snl's sketch on the johnny depp trial because "someone will find it funny" (also they said "less intellectually people" so uh)— robobot \ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udff3\u200d\u26a7 (@robobot \ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddff\ud83c\udff3\u200d\u26a7) 1652648121
The trial will resume on Monday 16 May, starting at 2pm UK time and is scheduled to be the fifth and final week.
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