Photo: Will Heath/Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images
Over the weekend, Bowen Yang appeared on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update dressed as Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo in Thailand who can’t so much as chew a leaf without getting a standing ovation from TikTok. In the bit, Yang and Weekend Update host Colin Jost drew parallels between the wildly popular Moo Deng and musician Chappell Roan, lifting language from Roan’s recent comments about struggling with sudden notoriety and delivering them from the perspective of a viral baby hippo. In the days since the episode was taped, the bit has prompted a lot of backlash, most of it directed at Yang, who recently interviewed Roan about everything she’s going through. Here’s what’s happened so far.
Sorry, but who is Moo Deng?
Oh my God, where have you been? Since July, Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo has been posting footage of its new pygmy hippopotamus, whose name translates to “bouncing pig.” In the past few weeks, videos of Moo Deng luxuriating in hose water and nibbling on zookeepers’ legs have become inescapable online, inspiring an endless stream of memes, fan accounts, and even a Sephora blush campaign.
It’s also drawn thousands of new visitors to the zoo, which has become a point of tension for Moo Deng’s caretakers — they say some fans have endangered the hippo by throwing objects at her. The zoo is reportedly limiting Moo Deng’s visiting times to Saturdays and Sundays and capping them at five minutes each, and has gone so far as to threaten legal action against anyone who disturbs Moo Deng’s peace.
จัดระเบียบผู้เช้าชมหมูเด้ง รอบละ5นาที
เฉพาะเสาร์-อาทิตย์ครับ เพื่อความปลอดภัยเเละการให้นักท่องเที่ยวทุกคนได้เห็นหมูเด้ง
ขออภัยในความไม่สะดวกครับ 🥰 pic.twitter.com/g2Tg3fbMAo
— สวนสัตว์เปิดเขาเขียว Khao Kheow Open Zoo (@KhaokheowZoo) September 15, 2024
What does Saturday Night Live have to say about all this?
It seems like Moo Deng’s plight reminded some Saturday Night Live writers of someone else whose meteoric rise to fame has jeopardized her well-being: Chappell Roan. Over the past few weeks, Roan has found herself at the center of a heated debate about fandom and celebrity after posting a series of statements calling out obsessive fan behavior. At one point during the firestorm, Roan talked about how overwhelmed she felt in an Interview magazine conversation with Yang, who seemed to empathize with her ambivalence about her own fame. In the past, Yang has also opened up about his own mental-health challenges — last July, he shared that he was temporarily stepping away from his podcast because he’d been struggling with “bad bouts of depersonalization,” a disorder that involves feeling detached from your body. A few weeks after the Interview conversation was published, Roan opened up to Rolling Stone about her experience with bipolar II disorder.
The SNL segment, though, came off as decidedly less supportive to some people. In character as Moo Deng, Yang lifted language from several of Roan’s most widely circulated videos and statements about her fans. “Reminder, women owe you nothing,” he said, referencing one of Roan’s posts from August. “When I am in my enclosure, tripping over stuff, biting my trainer’s knee, I am at work. That is the project. Do not yell my name or expect a photo just because I’m your ‘parasocial bestie’ or because you appreciate my talent.” A few moments later, he called himself “your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo,” referring to the Sasha Colby–inspired moniker Roan gave herself.
When Jost observed that Moo Deng’s life sounded a lot like Chappell Roan’s, Yang said, “And by the way, leave her alone. Let her take as much time as she needs for her mental health. We both deserve patience and grace, so stop harassing her and stop throwing shellfish at her.” (Shellfish is apparently one of the things zoo-goers have been tossing at Moo Deng.) To wrap things up, he added a joke about the recent firestorm Roan caused when she opted not to endorse Kamala Harris. “Also, I know I’m only 10 weeks old, but this is really important to me, so please listen,” Yang said as Moo Deng. “I will not be making an endorsement in this year’s election.”
Where does Yang stand?
Many interpreted SNL’s take on Moo Deng as making light of Roan’s calls for privacy. It’s not clear who wrote it, but Yang took most of the heat, especially because of his interview with Roan — a few X users accused him of “making fun of her” after appearing to empathize with her struggles and “kissing her ass.” Some people defended Yang, arguing that he’d used the bit to point out that Roan was being treated like a zoo animal.
Bowen took a mental health break from his podcast last year while having a severe dissociative episode. He’s providing cultural commentary about how people are treating Chappell like a literal zoo animal, not making fun of her. Bowen Yang they could never make me hate you! https://t.co/06KmzJJmde pic.twitter.com/fWG0pGTyiq
— jen (@rocketharrys) September 29, 2024
Yang responded to the criticism in an Instagram Story, where he took issue with Variety’s claim that he had “mocked” Roan. (The magazine appears to have since changed its headline.) “If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting her then there it is I guess,” he wrote. “Everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable and even then we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever.”
Roan, who pulled out of last weekend’s performances at All Things Go to prioritize her health, hasn’t yet weighed in on the sketch. Leave it to SNL to make a beloved pygmy hippo the most controversial news story of the weekend.
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