With less than 48 hours until Republican candidate Donald Trump is scheduled to host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” several high-profile Latino celebrities are adding their voices to the calls that SNL’s decision to have Trump as host by many in the Latino community as a mistake by both the show and NBC. Here is a summary of what some of those celebrities have said in the past few days:
Actor John Leguizamo via Yahoo News:
“I find it hurtful and insulting, and you’re celebrating someone who has said some horrible things. I find it unacceptable. I will not watch … I won’t watch ‘SNL’ anymore.”
Letter from prominent celebrities, including Diego Luna, author Junot Díaz and filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu via TIME:
“[Trump’s] hate speech appeals to lower passions like xenophobia, machismo, political intolerance and religious dogmatism. All of which inevitably reminds us of the past campaigns that have been directed against other ethnic groups and that have resulted in the deaths of millions of people. In fact, the physical aggressions against Hispanics and repeated calls to prohibit the public use of the Spanish language have already started.”
Comedian Al Madrigal’s tweet: Madrigal was one of the first Latino celebrities to push the #RacismIsntFunny petition:
Trump is a joke but racism isn't funny. Tell @NBC to #DumpTrump from SNL: http://t.co/xrrdYmxCYh @moveon #racismisntfunny
— Al Madrigal (@almadrigal) October 18, 2015
Prominent satirists Lalo Alcaraz penned this piece:
Lalo Alcaraz Cartoon: Trump feels safe hosting SNL. Please share pic.twitter.com/x8NQsEQQ2C
— Lalo Alcaraz (@laloalcaraz) November 4, 2015
Initially, actor Eva Longoria said the following about Trump’s SNL appearance:
“This is part of freedom of speech, freedom of press. [Trump] has his right — not only that, [executive producer] Lorne Michaels has a right to book whoever he wants.”
“We as a Hispanic community have a choice to not watch it. That’s our choice. That’s what we can do. That’s what you’re supposed to do. Boycott that night, and then let that show feel that ‘oh, OK we did make a bad decision.’ You cannot limit that choice to producers or a network. That’s their choice to do that. But what you can do is [say], ‘OK you made that choice, therefore we will do this.'”
After those comments, Longoria posted this on her public Facebook page:
“I hate when articles need a headline. I am in NO WAY “defending” Trump being on SNL. I want to be very clear on that. I never said that and in fact I SUPPORT anyone who chooses to boycott or protest or not watch. Unfortunately writers can put anything they want in a headline even if the article doesn’t reflect it. #Frustrating“
For those of you considering a boycott of the SNL program, I recommend we watch it; then make a list of the program’s advertisers—starting with “adjacencies” (those TV ads during the breaks before and after the actual program) as well as those during the program. Then distribute those names to everyone in your social media networks so they will know which advertisers to boycott for at least 30 days. Advertisers will be able to track the drop in sales associated with the SNL broadcast for those 30 days—and more. They and SNL’s producers will get the message that we disagree with Trump’s allegations about our community and mean BUSINESS!
I don’t understand why latinos get offended with Trump’s comments. Why don’t we get offended when Hillary lies to the face of all Americans about her emails and Benghazi? Why don’t we get offended with Obama who hasn’t done anything for latinos when democrats were in control of the senate and house? Because we want to be seen as victims of racism like a lot of black people do!
I’m watching it! People please! Stop getting so offended and go on with your lives! I know Trump is not the best candidate out there, but he has come up with some good pionts. Why dont mexicans get mad at their corrupt government for privatizing their natural resources and for not treating Central American immigrants with respect? Do you think Mexico treats the illegals better than the U.S does? Do you think the Mexican government would even give them a visa? I didn’t think so!