Bill Burr did not play nice when he dished out Saturday Night Live's opening monologue this week. The 52-year-old standup comic took shots at anti-maskers, White women who co-opted the "woke movement" and cancel culture, among other targets. During his rant against cancel culture (the act of publicly shaming a notable figure for offensive comments), he noted one of the most headline-grabbing incidents of the year, the renewed backlash against John Wayne.
The iconic actor delivered racist remarks in a 1970 Playboy interview, claiming he believed "in white supremacy until the Blacks are educated to a point of responsibility." He also didn't "feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves." The comments have caused modern celebrations of the late actor, such as museum exhibits and airport names, to face scrutiny. Burr does not think the backlash is warranted, not because he agrees with Wayne's comments but because Wayne is dead and was born in an earlier generation.
"How stupid is that 'cancel' thing. They're literally running out of people to cancel. They're going after dead people now," Burr said. "They're trying to cancel John Wayne. It's like 'Yeah dude, God did that 40 years ago.' They're all up in arms. They're like 'Did you hear what he said in that interview in Playboy in 1970? Can you believe that?' It's like 'Yeah, he was born in 1907. That's what these people sounded like.'"
He added, "You never talked to your grandparents and brought up the wrong subject, and all of a sudden it went off the rails? Like 'Oh, Grandma, just keep making the cookies!' You don't bring up race and religion with your grandparents. You keep it simple."
This Wayne remark, paired with his other dicey jokes, stirred up controversy. The comments rubbed many SNL viewers the wrong way, but others defended Burr, saying that viewers missed his point. Scroll through to read some of the discourse around the Wayne portion of the monologue.