The SNL Skit That Always Has Fans Seeing Red

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https://www.looper.com/944199/the-sn...ns-seeing-red/

Nobody was laughing at SNL's Johnny Depp/Amber Heard cold open sketch

In April of 2022, the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard defamation trial started in Fairfax County, Virginia (via New York Post). Both actors and former spouses sued one another for making false claims about their romantic relationship, with both parties saying they had caused material damage. But when the lurid details of their problematic marriage came to light during the case, it ignited many poignant discussions about the chronically under-addressed problem of domestic abuse in intimate partner relationships.

So when "SNL" decided to parody the trial in one of their cold open sketches, viewers were appalled with the lack of tact the writers showed (via Newsweek). The sketch parodied the courtroom proceedings with a specific focus on an incident in which Depp alleges Heard purposefully defecated in his bed. The scatological humor featured in the "SNL" sketch relied on exceptionally childish vocabulary to solicit laughter, but viewers on social media were having none of it.

Verified Twitter user @JorCru was incredulous that the network would allow such serious subject matter to be made light of for the sake of comedy. Professional author and writer @gabalexa saw red in more ways than one: "If my very public intimate partner violence trial was turned into an 'SNL' skit, I would go full Scarlet Witch on 30 Rockefeller Plaza." And @MarcusL_Crassus had strong opinions about the racist caricatures in the skit, as well as the hypocrisy with which he believes the show covered the "Will Smith Oscars slap." Just about the only people laughing were news media outlets having fun coming up with punny, poop-themed headlines.