'Saturday Night Live's Michael Che Under Fire for Transphobic Joke About Caitlyn Jenner

Saturday Night Live’s "Weekend Update" co-host, Michael Che, is catching some serious heat for a joke he made at Caitlyn Jenner’s expense this past weekend.

Us Weekly reports that the 36-year-old comedian first began his bit by discussing Kanye West’s Jesus is King album, and the radical life change it reflects, including his plan to change his old song lyrics to more “G-rated” content.

Che first stated, “At first I thought Kanye was losing his mind, and now I feel like he’s fine, he’s just turning into an old white lady,” adding, “I mean, he used to be one of the coolest black dudes on Earth. Now he’s showing up to events in sweatpants and orthopedic sneakers, listening to Kenny G and trying to get black people to like Trump. It’s like, how long before this guy changes his name to Kathy?”

He then went on to tell the controversial comment about Caitlyn, who came out as transgender in 2015. Che joked, “Now, you might think that I’m crazy, but about five years ago, there was a fella named Bruce Jenner, and he moved to Calabasas…” He let the joke trail off with a grin, and then the camera showed his co-host, Colin Jost, with his head down laughing.

Viewers immediately took to social media to criticize Che and SNL, including trans comedian Avery Edison, who also pointed out Che’s harmful misuse of pronouns, writing, “What gets me is that this disgusting, blatantly transphobic joke is both completely unfunny AND delivered incredibly poorly. there’s just no point to it. why this target? why the deadnaming? why the incorrect pronouns? WHY THE JOKE AT ALL?” Others made jokes at Che's blatant transphobia.

We will see if Che and/or SNL has anything to say about the criticism.