A recent “Saturday Night Live” sketch featuring actor Jon Hamm and cast member Bowen Yang as gay adoptive dads has stirred controversy—this time not from conservatives, but from the show’s usual liberal base. The April 12th sketch poked fun at modern parenting, surrogacy, and the purchasing of children by same-sex couples, drawing sharp criticism from LGBT activists and progressive commentators.
In the skit, Hamm and Yang’s characters bring a baby to a dinner party unannounced, leaving friends confused about how the couple acquired the child. The humor focused on the sudden shift in the couple’s lifestyle, juxtaposing their party-heavy past with abrupt parenthood. One friend quips, “You guys said that after dinner you were going to a rave called ‘Bulge Dungeon’—and now today you have a baby?”
Left-wing outrage erupted online almost immediately. Some viewers accused the sketch of promoting “regressive” stereotypes and undermining LGBT representation. “This sketch is awful. Putting us back years,” one critic posted. Others accused “SNL” of committing creative suicide, claiming the show had finally turned on its own audience.
However, conservative voices responded differently. Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA praised the segment, calling it a rare moment of cultural honesty. “At this rate I might watch SNL again,” Kirk said. “First time in 15 years I’ve seen the LGBT third rail be mocked on TV.” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey echoed this sentiment, saying, “The purchasing of children deserves mockery and derision.”
The sketch has since gone viral, with millions watching clips across platforms and weighing in on the debate. The unexpected reaction reveals a shift in cultural dynamics, where traditional liberal platforms now face backlash from their core audiences when crossing certain ideological lines.
“SNL,” long a staple of progressive entertainment, may have inadvertently exposed a deeper cultural discomfort with the commodification of children through surrogacy and the erosion of traditional family structures. By highlighting the absurdity of sudden parenthood in a hedonistic context, the sketch touched on truths often ignored in mainstream media.
The backlash from the left underscores an increasing intolerance for satire that questions modern liberal orthodoxies. Meanwhile, the positive response from conservatives signals a growing hunger for comedy that dares to challenge cultural taboos and defend the sanctity of family.
