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‘SNL’ slavery skit causes Twitter seizure

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“Saturday Night Live” writer Leslie Jones went on a Twitter rant Sunday after jokes she made about slavery during Saturday’s show caused a backlash on social media.

Jones made her first on-air appearance on “Weekend Update” to talk about Lupita Nyong’o being named People magazine’s “Most Beautiful Person in the World,” and joked that her own title should be “Most Useful.”

“Back in the slave days, I would have never been single,” she told co-host Colin Jost. “I’m 6 feet tall and I’m strong, Colin . . . I mean, look at me, I’m a mandingo.”

“I do not want to be a slave . . . I’m just saying that back in the slave days, my love life would have been way better,” she continued. “Massah would have hooked me up with the best brotha on the plantation . . . I would be the No. 1 slave draft pick. All of the plantations would want me.”

After drawing the ire of many on Twitter, Jones responded on Twitter on Sunday, defending her jokes.

“I’m a comic it is my job to take things and make them funny to make you think. Especially the painful things. Why are y’all so mad . . . If anybody should be offended is white folks cause it’s what they did. Y’all so busy trying to be self righteous you miss what the joke really is.

“Very sad I have to defend myself to black people. Now I’m betting if Chris Rock or Dave [Chappelle] did that joke or [Jay Z] or Kanye put in a rap they would be called brilliant. Cause they all do this type of material. Just cause it came from a strong black woman who ain’t afraid to be real y’all mad.

“This exactly why black people are where we are now cause we too f—ing sensitive and instead of [making] lemonade out of lemons we just suck the sour juice from the lemons. Wake up. I wouldn’t be able to do a joke like that if I didn’t know my history or proud of where I came from and who I am.”

“Saturday Night Live,” meanwhile, tweeted support for Jones’ work from its official Twitter account shortly after her on-air appearance.