Piers Morgan slams SNL audience for cheering for Luigi Mangione: "Disgusting and shameful"
Photo: AFP
Piers Morgan has criticized the audience of “Saturday Night Live” after a controversial reaction to a “Weekend Update” segment mentioning Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
During the segment, anchor Colin Jost brought up Mangione, only for the audience to erupt into cheers. A visibly uncomfortable Jost sarcastically responded, “You’re wooing for justice, right?” and hesitated before continuing the segment.
Morgan took to social media to express his outrage. “So disgusting… and Colin Jost just smirks away as if it’s all one big giggle. Shameful moment for SNL,” the broadcaster wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
SNL Weekend Update mentions CEO kiIIer Luigi Mangione and the crowd applauds & cheers pic.twitter.com/Hn6k2kTBp2
Morgan wasn’t the only one upset. Author Jennifer Sey also commented on the incident, calling the audience “the dumbest group of pathetic woke conformists known to man.” She criticized the crowd for cheering on what she described as a “deranged Robin Hood” narrative tied to Mangione’s alleged manifesto against the healthcare industry.
Right-wing figures also weighed in, with Stephen Miller, former homeland security advisor, calling the moment “revolting” and “sickening” in a subtweet of the video.
Mangione has become a viral figure since his arrest, with his manifesto gaining attention for its criticisms of healthcare policies. His appearance on “SNL” follows another segment last week in which cast member Sarah Sherman joked about Mangione’s rising status as a “sex symbol” among some audiences.
Mangione is currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York and is expected to appear in court tomorrow.