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On Saturday Night Live’s December 7, 2024, Weekend Update, Colin Jost and Michael Che joked about the online response to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Contemporary coverage described reactions to the jokes as mixed, but it did not report a representative poll or establish how viewers overall felt.
What did SNL say about the killing?
Thompson was killed in Manhattan on December 4, 2024. Three days later, Jost and Che addressed the manhunt and the conflicting online reactions to his death. Jost juxtaposed the killing with social-media responses that health care was bad and that the shooter was attractive. Contemporary coverage described the segment as a joke about those reactions, not an endorsement of violence. Yahoo/People’s coverage reported on the segment and response.
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At the time of the broadcast, the shooter had not yet been publicly identified in the coverage reviewed. The jokes reflected two conspicuous strands of online discussion: anger about health insurance and fascination with the shooter’s appearance.
How did viewers react?
Contemporary reports characterized the response as mixed, drawing on visible social-media reactions and selected examples. That supports saying the jokes prompted discussion and disagreement; it does not show what viewers as a whole thought. No representative poll measuring audience response to the December 7 segment was identified, and the available reporting does not establish a specific percentage or broad consensus. Yahoo/People and The Washington Post provide the contemporary framing.
Online posts captured genuine anger and dark humor, but they cannot stand in for public opinion. Liz Hamel, KFF’s vice president and director of public opinion and survey research, cautioned in The Washington Post on December 5, 2024: “People posting online are not representative of the public as a whole.”
Why did the killing become a flashpoint?
The killing brought longstanding frustration with health insurers into a highly visible public conversation. The Washington Post reported that some people used insurance terminology to make jokes about the death, while others argued that it was deserved because of claim denials. The same report described the reaction as horrifying to Thompson’s associates and to others who objected to the killing being trivialized. Those reactions help explain the charged context, but they do not establish public support for violence.
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To illustrate the broader insurance frustrations, The Washington Post cited KFF’s 2023 survey: about six in ten adults said they had experienced a health insurance problem in the prior 12 months, such as a surprise bill or being turned away from services. More than one-third of respondents in fair or poor health said a prescribed drug was not covered or required a very high co-pay. These figures concern reported insurance experiences—not reactions to SNL or support for the killing. The Washington Post’s report provides the survey context.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which SNL episode are these reactions about?
The discussion concerns the December 7, 2024, Weekend Update. It is separate from the December 14 episode, which included Sarah Sherman parodying Nancy Grace in a segment about public fascination with Luigi Mangione, as well as a joke in Chris Rock’s monologue. Combining those later moments with the December 7 Weekend Update would conflate two different broadcasts. Coverage of the December 14 episode describes that later segment.
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