Why Connor Storrie’s Saturday Night Live ‘Tourette’s’ sketch caused uproar
Connor Storrie is SNL sketch ‘Tourette’s’. (Youtube/NBC)
Three days on from Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie’s Saturday Night Live debut, and the internet is still talking about it.
While there’s plenty of praise for Storrie’s first appearance on the adored US sketch show – his performance was “playful”, “touching” and “laugh out loud” as New York Magazine put it – one sketch in particular has created days-long discourse that doesn’t seem to be dying down.
Which Saturday Night Live sketch has caused controversy?
On 28 February’s episode of SNL, Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie joined the show’s regular cast on a series of sketches, including ‘Tourette’s’, a four-minute-long bit based on the controversy at last month’s BAFTAs.
During the ceremony, Scottish Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson, whose life had been turned into a BAFTA-nominated movie called I Swear, yelled out a racial slur while Sinners actors Delroy Lindo and Michael B Jordan presented an award on stage.
Despite the event being recorded two hours behind being transmitted, the BBC decided not to cut the slur from the programme. The BBC and the BAFTAs apologised for the blunder, which sparked days of heated debate.
‘Tourette’s’ opened with a muted clip of the uncomfortable moment, with a voiceover explaining that the slur was due to “involuntary verbal tics from a man suffering with Tourette syndrome”.
The skit continued as a celebrity PSA, featuring a number of famous faces who are known for their controversial views and outbursts. Each parodied star explained that their contentious remarks and actions had been a result of undiagnosed Tourette syndrome.
The celebrities parodied included Braveheart actor Mel Gibson, who has a long history of making offensive remarks, comedian Bill Cosby, who has faced multiple allegations of sexual assault (which he has repeatedly denied), comedian Louis C.K, who faced numerous accusations of sexual misconduct, and The Real Housewives of New York City star Jill Zarin, who recently made headlines for complaining that Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Half Time show featured “no white people”.
JK Rowling, who is known for her gender-critical views on the transgender community, was also parodied. Storrie, meanwhile, played Call Me By Your Name actor Armie Hammer, who was hit by rumours in 2021 that he is a cannibal, which he has repeatedly denied.
“One of the most common side effects of Tourette’s is cannibalism,” Storrie quipped. “You could casually be DM’ing with a girl and suddenly the Tourette’s takes over and you’re typing stuff like, ‘I’m literally going to eat you.’”
“I guess I have to be forgiven, if not celebrated,” Storrie added, in character.
The skit finished with an announcement that the PSA had been brought to viewers by the “National Workforce of Rethinking Disabilities (NWORD)”.
Why has SNL sketch ‘Tourette’s’ caused uproar?
SNL fans and Tourette syndrome campaigners have called out the show’s sketch for “mocking a disability” and further stigmatising the condition, following a week of misinformation about Tourette syndrome being spread online.
British Tourette syndrome support charity Tourettes Action condemned the sketch as “not acceptable”.
“We had hoped this would be a new week and we could move on but the release of further content online that has been designed to ridicule Tourette’s and reduce our community to a punchline has only deepened that hurt,” said the charity’s CEO Emma McNally.
“I want to be completely clear here: THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. Mocking a disability is never acceptable. It would not be tolerated for any other condition, and it should not be tolerated by people with Tourette’s.”
On X, formerly Twitter, a user added a community note to the sketch which had been posted by the official SNL account.
“John Davidson suffers from a very rare form of Tourette’s called coprolalia in which he involuntarily, shouts out the most offensive thing possible in a situation,” the note reads.
“It is a real illness and mocking him for it is deeply inappropriate and cruel.”
Others dubbed the sketch “extremely lame”, “unfunny” and “vile”.
Some compared the skit to 2007 South Park episode ‘Le Petit Tourette’ in which mouthy lead character Cartman faked having Tourette’s syndrome in order to get away with spewing foul remarks.
“SNL unironically showing less compassion and grace towards ppl with Tourette’s than 2007 South Park lol,” one X user wrote.
“The reason South Park’s Tourette’s episode works and the SNL skit doesn’t is South Park is clearly satirising the misunderstanding around the condition.”
SNL is yet to respond to the backlash to the sketch.
Has John Davidson responded to SNL’s sketch?
Tourette’s syndrome campaigner John Davidson has not responded to the furore around SNL’s sketch, but the day after it aired, he shared a lengthy statement on Facebook about the “very difficult week” he had following the BAFTAs incident.
“Whilst I will never apologies [sic] for having Tourette syndrome, I will apologise for any pain, upset and misunderstanding that it may create,” he wrote.
“This past week has been tough, and has reminded me that what I do raising awareness for such a misunderstood condition, there is still a long way to go and I will keep on keeping on until this is achieved.”
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
