Saturday Night Live to Hire a Black Female Comedian After a Seven Year Gap

Just before Thanksgiving, ColorOfChange sat down with NBCUniversal executives to discuss SNL’s failure to address the exclusion of African American women as well as share concerns about misleading stereotypes often used to portray black people on the show, states Robinson.

“The decision to cast a black woman is an important step in the right direction and shows that our members’ voices were heard. ColorOfChange looks forward to a continued dialogue with network executives to ensure that this new cast member has the support she needs backstage to be successful on screen.”

The New York Times reports that auditions began with an 11-woman showcase in Los Angeles on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, followed by a second session in New York a week later, with Michaels in attendance.

Although Michaels said he does not remember ever adding a new cast member in the middle of a season, he did not attribute his willingness to do so to the outcry over the show’s lack of diversity. He did tell the Times that it’s “100 percent good for the show to have an African-American woman.”

He defended his casting process, saying, “We’re all about talent. It doesn’t help if somebody’s not ready—and ‘ready’ is one of the charged words. But you want to be sure you give people the best possible shot.”

Given all the uproar, the new cast member is sure to be under the microscope.

“That’s one reason we took extra time,” Michaels said. “You have to be careful to try to protect your players.”

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