On the heels of a Saturday Night Live segment that featured cast member Pete Davidson comparing being an R. Kelly fan to being a Catholic, the Brooklyn Diocese is demanding that the NBC comedy show apologize for the “disgusting” swipe about the Catholic Church sex abuse scandals.
On Monday, the diocese released a statement criticizing the show saying, “apparently, the only acceptable bias these days is against the Catholic Church.”
“The faithful of our Church are disgusted by the harassment by those in news and entertainment,” the statement continued, “and this sketch offends millions. The mockery of this difficult time in the Church’s history serves no purpose.”
“It is likely that no other institution has done more than the Catholic Church to combat and prevent sexual abuse,” the letter says. “The insensitivity of the writers, producers, and the cast of SNL around this painful subject is alarming.”
The Church response came two days after Saturday Night Live funny man Pete Davidson joked that being an R. Kelly fan is the “same thing” as being a Catholic.
R & B singer R. Kelly is once again under scrutiny for decades of accusations that he sexually molested a long list of young women after being indicted in Chicago on ten counts of sexual assault.
The singer’s legal problems became the topic of jokes for Davidson on the March nine SNL broadcast with Davidson likening Kelly and the Church.
“But if you support the Catholic Church isn’t that like the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan?” Davidson said. “I don’t really see the difference, except for one’s music is significantly better.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.