Victoria Jackson Denies Slamming Tom Hanks After ‘SNL50’ Sketch
Saturday Night Live veteran Victoria Jackson is vehemently denying a story that most people were blissfully unaware of: A TMZ report that claims she “Slams Tom Hanks Over MAGA Skit!!!’ That would be the SNL50 “Black Jeopardy” sketch in which Hanks reprised his role as Doug, the MAGA-hat-wearing white contestant who unexpectedly has a lot in common with his Black competition.
After the show, TMZ claimed that Jackson was “making her anger known,” pointing to a post by political commentator Link Lauren. Lauren was offended by the bit when Hanks recoils after host Kenan Thompson approaches him for a handshake, calling it “downright disgusting.” TMZ also reported that Jackson called the sketch “stupid,” while decrying the sexual vulgarities and “crude jokes” during the show.
But TMZ is full of it, according to Jackson. She took to Instagram to set the record straight about her feelings. “Apparently, I slammed Tom Hanks,” she explained. “Tom, I’m sorry if I slammed you. I didn’t slam you.”
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“Let me explain,” Jackson continued from her kitchen table. TMZ tried multiple times to get her reaction to the Hanks sketch, a segment Jackson claimed she didn’t initially remember. Someone sent her an article to jog her memory about the awkward handshake between Thompson and Hanks. That did the trick. “Oh, I remember that moment. That was horrible. Nobody laughed,” she remembered. (She’s right about the tepid crowd reaction.) “I mean really, its not funny. MAGA Trump supporters, they’re not racist.”
So Jackson provided her publicist a statement: “Link Lauren said it best — ‘this tired trope that MAGA is racist is disgusting.’”
“So I didn’t say it, this other person said it,” Jackson said, passing the buck before grabbing it back. “And I agree with him. And I’d add ‘Stupid.’” She went on to extol the virtues of MAGA Americans and all they stand for, none of which had much to do with Hanks or “Black Jeopardy.”
As for SNL50, Jackson described an ex-cast member who sat next to her, giddy with laughter over the show’s crude jokes. “I guess SNL has something for everyone,” she said. “But did anyone make fun of the Kamala supporters?”
TMZ went and twisted her statement, Jackson claimed after admitting to virtually everything the outlet reported. “Comedy is exaggeration, journalism is not supposed to be exaggeration,” she cried. “They sensationalize it!” As proof, she offered that she exchanged pleasantries with Hanks at the show. “Hi, Tom. Hi, Victoria.” They’re all good, folks.
Jackson is making the point that — technically — she didn’t slam Hanks directly. She merely called his specific part of the sketch “disgusting” and “stupid.”
Nothing personal, Tom.
