NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Timothee Chalamet hosted NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' for the second time on November 11, when he touched the nerve of some viewers while cracking a Hamas joke during a skit.
In the skit, which the 27-year-old actor performed with the comedy group Please Don't Destroy, Chalamet plays the role of an aspiring musician who wants to end his life.
When John Higgins, a member of the comedy group, tells the suicidal character, "There must be someone or something you care about," he replies, "I guess. It's my music."
After Chalamet's character plays a couple of his 'songs' for the group, by which they are far from impressed, he asks them, "Will you share it on Instagram?"
They agree to the proposal and ask for his Instagram username, to which the character replies, "It's Hamas, H-a-m-a-s."
"Yeah, dude, I'm not sharing a song by Hamas on Instagram," Martin Herlihy of Please Don't Destroy says in the skit.
Timothee Chalamet's opening monologue
According to USA Today, Chalamet played up his musical background during the opening monologue to promote his upcoming movies post-SAG-AFTRA strike.
"It’s my second time hosting 'Saturday Night Live,' but in many ways, it feels like my first time. Because the last time was during COVID, and that was just weird. I was wearing a mask all week − I don’t think Lorne Michaels knew who I was; he kept calling me 'Winona'. But I do feel lucky to be hosting after the SAG strike ended," began the actor.
He broke into songs to highlight his upcoming projects, crooning, "My new film 'Wonka' is out in theaters December 15. Fandango.com, keyword 'Damn, Hugh Grant got that Oompa Loompa dump truck'."
"If you want to view a three-and-a-half-hour movie, go see 'Flowers of the Killer Moon'. Or just wait for Part 2 of 'Dune,' just make sure before to use the bathroom," he continued.
Chalamet then switched gears and channeled his high school alter ego Timmy Tim for a rap dedicated to fellow "baby faces."
Internet reacts to Timothee Chalamet's SNL skit
Netizens on X (formerly Twitter) found the skit with the Hamas joke insensitive and in bad taste, as the following tweets demonstrate.
"Absolutely sick. there’s a real genocide going on where people are DYING and the first thing they think of is to write a joke about it for SNL? do better @nbcsnl," one unimpressed user wrote.
Another user said, "Imagine “joking” about something that left thousands of children dead…"
"The fact that he agreed to joke about Hamas and Palestine is just SO distasteful and unfortunate," a user stated.
"They really wanna get this show cancelled I see," a user commented.
One user did not find the set funny and said, "I did not like this one bit; unfunny and disrespectful to the lives lost and what is currently happening."
