The endless apologies from YouTube pranksters were the targets of one of Saturday Night Live‘s pre-taped sketches this weekend, with Kyle Mooney and guest host Daniel Kaluuya as members of a Prank Posse that often took things way too far. At first, the sketch seemed just like a parody of the infamous shrimp-tails-in-cereal viral incident, but it turned out to be much more. The sketch featured apologies that seemed similar to the many apology videos YouTube stars have posted after their behavior came under scrutiny.
At the start of “Viral Apology Video,” Marky (Mooney) and J.P. (Kaluuya) found mouse bones in a box of Apple Jacks and asked his viewers if they would actually eat them. This was followed by the first apology video, in which Marky apologized for the “very bad” things he has done in the past. “I’ve been bad to girlfriends, best friends, co-workers, parents, pets, and, frankly, my God,” Marky said. “But I want y’all to know that I am sorry. Just know that I am learning and growing as we speak. Peace.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
In the very next video though, Marky and his friends dropped a TV on J.P.’s head while he was napping. This led to another apology video. “It did not even occur to me that I could hurt my friend! I am so sorry,” Marky said. He also revealed that he was lying in his last apology video, but this time he really means it. (Sure.) He decided that they would delay the release of the “Tricking J.P. into kissing my penis video” out of respect.
After the “kissing my penis” video came out, Marky posted another video, in which he apologized again. He said his sponsors have dropped him and some of his past videos could be considered crimes. J.P. ended the video by smacking Marky with a TV and apologizing before running off.
The SNL sketch aired a few weeks after David Dobrik issued an apology video because he began losing sponsors when a woman claimed she was sexually assaulted by a now-former member of Dobrik’s Vlog Squad. The woman accused Donykas Zeglaitis of raping her in November 2018 when Dobrik’s team was filming a prank video at her college. In a video titled “Let’s Talk,” Dobrik said some of his older videos “don’t represent me anymore, and they’re hurtful to other people, and I don’t want them up because I’ve grown as a content creator and as a person.” He later added, “I don’t agree with some of the videos I’ve posted,” and said he has distanced himself from Zeglaitis, who has not publicly commented on the allegations.
