Fox News Flags Che's Netflix Special Over Kirk Jokes
By @sharedot · · 6 pages
- Comedy
- Stand Up
- Michael Che
- Netflix Special
Fox News reports SNL's Michael Che joked about Charlie Kirk's killing and repeatedly used the R-word in his new Netflix special taped in Minneapolis.
Che's Minneapolis Tapings Sets Off a Media Firestorm
According to Fox News Digital, "Weekend Update" co-anchor Michael Che's new Netflix stand-up special, "Michael Che: Shot in Minnesota," taped at the First Avenue music venue in Minneapolis, opens with Che saying he feels "like Erika Kirk on this stage" and joking that he first thought reports of Charlie Kirk's killing meant "they shot Captain Kirk."
Fox News reports Che then described watching the graphic video of the assassination, saying he wished he had not seen it. The outlet frames the material as Che mocking both the late Turning Point USA founder and President Trump's supporters.
Fox News Digital says it reached out to Che for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Why the Slur Material Is the Real Flashpoint
Per Fox News, the sharpest backlash centers on Che's repeated use of the R-word rather than the Kirk jokes alone.
Fox News reports Che defended the term on stage, saying he'll stop using it "when I stop seeing it," claiming that "ever since we stopped using the word... regressive people have taken over the world," and calling Trump a "regressive whisperer" whose MAGA hats appeal to "regressive guys" who love hats.
Fox News also highlights Che's riff that Trump would have made a great kindergarten teacher because he knows how to talk to people who don't like to think much.
In the interpretive world of comedy coverage, one outlet's outrage framing is itself part of the story: Fox News positions the special alongside other comics facing criticism for jokes about Kirk's death a year after his murder.
From Poll Jokes to God as an Absent Parent
Fox News reports the special's political material also takes aim at presidential politics itself, with Che arguing America should keep a standing list of candidates the way ESPN ranks the top 500 high school quarterbacks, and joking that every four years the country ends up in a "Would You Rather" between two 80-year-olds.
Fox News says Che then pivots to personal material on aging, drinking, relationships, sex and fatherhood, closing with a bit imagining God as an absent parent who left a book behind and never came back.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Gets a Homecoming of Its Own
While Che's Minneapolis-taped special dominates the conversation, Yahoo reports a warmer Minnesota comedy milestone: Prior Lake native Chloe Radcliffe is returning home for a December show and premiering her Comedy Central stand-up special.
Yahoo, citing Radcliffe's Saturday appearance on KARE 11, notes the Minnesota native discussed the upcoming performances with the local station. Fans in the region get both the flashpoint and the homecoming within the same news cycle.