Michael Che Faces Backlash for Posting Sexual Assault Joke About Simone Biles

Michael Che has wiped his Instagram clean after sparking backlash for posting cruel jokes about gymnast Simone Biles, who withdrew from the team and all-around finals at the Tokyo Olympics this week for mental health reasons. The Saturday Night Live personality’s name was trending on Twitter after screenshots of his Instagram Story from Thursday went viral.

In a string of Stories that have since been deleted, Che wrote about wanting to make jokes at Biles’ expense, even writing that he was going to perform them Thursday night. He then shared jokes submitted by his followers with ratings of said jokes. His first Story read, “Man, I wanna make fun of Simone Biles.” He continued, “I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head. Im going to the cellar tonight to say them into a microphone. As the dorky kids say I’m choosing violence.”

He then reposted a number of responses, one of which included a joke about Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of girls and women, including Biles. Che rated the insensitive joke 9/10 before rating a racist joke about Biles as 8/10.

Later, Che claimed that his account was hacked, indirectly denying having posted those jokes. “Mannnnn, i got hacked today. Can’t believe they got me,” he wrote in the same style and font as the earlier posts. “Yall know i only do jokes about whites and cops. S’all good now i changed my password and everything.” He appeared to change the subject, bringing up rapper DaBaby’s recent homophobic comments. “Y’all hear about dababy tho..? that’s crazy. iight see yall at church. Imma get there early.”

Needless to say, Che’s posts did not go over well on Twitter, where he is getting reamed. Continue reading to see social media’s reaction to his posts.

​

“between michael che just *needing* to crack a rape joke and the activision/blizzard ‘cosby room’, rape culture is very alive and well,” one Twitter user wrote.

​

“I say this from the depths of my soul f*** Michael Che for coming after Simone Biles in the most despicable and depraved way possible,” one user wrote.

​

“Michael Che using Simone Biles’ trauma as a punchline when she’s one of the gymnasts who was sexually abused by Larry Nassar is the most repulsive attempt at humor by any mainstream comedian,” someone else said.

“michael che? being a f—ing loser? i am so shocked and appalled,” one person quipped.

​

“Yes [Saturday Night Live] is on hiatus, but doesn’t Michael Che have an @HBO deal too? It’d be a great time to act on all the big talk of listening to Black women, and drop that talent-free wastrel who constantly maligns us. We have receipts for years but this latest stunt is inexcusable,” someone else said.

​

“Black Women BEEN told you about Michael Che… but once again y’all ignored us,” someone else wrote. “But COMEDY right!? F—ing hack.”

​

“Michael Che comes for people he thinks he can get away with dunking on. Trans women, Black women, sexual assault survivors. Judging by his flimsy ‘I got hacked’ defense, it seems he had no idea how beloved Simone Biles is, or just how messed up it is to share a Larry Nasser joke,” one user wrote.

​

“Michael Che is trash and him deleting everything and claiming he was hacked is such a cowardly move,” one user wrote.