Bowen Yang shuts down claims that he 'mocked' Chappell Roan on 'SNL'

If you're familiar with Yang's work, personal life, and general disposition while doing interviews or cohosting the Las Culturistas podcast with Matt Rogers, it's pretty hard to make sense of this conclusion that the SNL star would be doing a scene intended to "mock" Roan. Quite the opposite, actually!

Before we dive into the reasons why this claim of "mockery" feels odd, it's worth recapping how this scene actually went. Feel free to skip ahead to the next section if you're already seen it — but if you haven't, it's absolutely worth watching (and paying attention to) it.

What happened during Bowen Yang's Moo Deng scene on 'Saturday Night Live'?

Yang's Moo Deng scene took place in the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live, which has maintained co-anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che for season 50.

"This summer, a two-month-old pygmy hippo in Thailand named Moo Deng became a viral sensation, causing huge crowds at her zoo enclosure," Jost announced, "with some unruly fans throwing bananas and shellfish at her to get her attention. Here to comment is Moo Deng."

After Yang enters the frame dressed as Moo Deng (she/her), the character tells the SNL audience to "stop clapping" (in a very unserious way) and asks Jost, "Is it OK if I say something?" The Weekend Update anchor tells Moo Deng to go ahead, and she does:

"For the past 10 weeks, I've been going nonstop — running around, eating lettuce, trying to bite the water from a hose, and the response has been overwhelming. But it has come to the point where I need to set some boundaries."

Moo Deng goes on, "Reminder: women owe you nothing. When I'm 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."

Jost asks, "Your talent… what is your talent?"

"Having a slippery body that bounces," Moo Deng replies. "Before me, the only hippos in media were either 'hungry, hungry' or Jada Pinkett Smith in Madagascar. But now I'm your favorite hippo's favorite hippo. And I'm… thirsty, thirsty. Hose!" she yells.

"Sorry, I needed that," Moo Deng says after regaining composure. Jost points out how stressful it must be to have the whole world watching her every move. Moo Deng agrees, "Honestly, Colin, sometimes I feel like I live my life in a cage, you know? Like an animal, trapped in a zoo, for people to look at."

Nearly all pop stars have used the surveillance-pilled motif at one point in their careers, like Britney Spears in Blackout, Taylor Swift in Reputation, and Lady Gaga in The Fame Monster. But given that Moo Deng is a hippopotamus who lives at the zoo, Jost points out to her that "that's kind of what you are" in the most literal sense.

"No, Colin, I have a career, OK?" Moo Deng claps back. "I've been approached by brands [like] Maybelline, Away Luggage… but I will only stand behind products that I believe in, like sweet potatoes and hose water. Hose!" she yells again, and is again hosed down by water.

She continues, "And trust me, I know I would not be in this position without my fans, my community, my Moo Deng boo thangs, my mujahideen… but the harassment has been intolerable." As shellfish and bananas start getting thrown in Moo Deng's direction, she screams in response, prompting Jost to yell that person to leave Moo Deng alone. She replies, "Wow, thank you so much, Colin. Your voice got so loud; that was so, so brave of you."

Jost highlights that Moo Deng's life "sounds a lot like Chappell Roan's lately" and asks the hippo if she knows who that is.

"I'm 10 weeks old, Colin, of course I know Chappell Roan," Moo Deng replies. "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."

She adds, "This is what society does: it puts young women on pedestals only to knock them down with shellfish. And also, I know I'm only 10 weeks old, but this is very important to me, so please listen: I will not be making an endorsement in this year's election."

"The presidential election, really?" Jost asks. Moo Deng responds, "Oh, I'm getting stressed out again! Colin, can I bite your knee?"

After Jost declines her request, Moo Deng says:

"Fine. See how easy that was, to respect people's boundaries?"

The scene ends with another water-hosing moment, but those last few lines delivered by Yang still resonate as the actual point of the scene: it can seem a bit silly and cringey when pop stars who grow up in the public eye have certain emotional outbursts and feel the need to assert themselves as human beings… but it's even cringier to put this much emphasis on the political endorsement of a 10-month-old hippo, or a 26-year-old singer whose politics are extremely clear in every song, performance, statement, interview, and social media post.

This same episode also features a sketch of Yang impersonating Charli XCX, which is centered around the 32-year-old British singer sharing an X post that reads, "Kamala is brat." The sketch is just as funny and silly as Yang's scene playing Moo Deng, but the comedian is not literally "mocking" either of these women whatsoever.

What has Bowen Yang said about Chappell Roan in the past?

The Las Culturistas podcast cohosted by Yang and Rogers, on a base level, is very supportive of female singers. Long before the average person knew who Roan was, Rogers and Yang were already singing her praises, like during an episode titled "Sunday Morning Talk" from April 2023. In a recent episode, "An Attack on Leos," from August 2024, Yang and Rogers had a long discussion about their support for Roan's plea for privacy. Also recently, the cohosts disclosed that one of the few times they fought with each other was hilariously associated with their very passionate feelings for Roan.

In June 2024, Vulture reported that Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess had won Album of the Year for two consecutive years at the Las Culturistas Culture Awards — a hilariously chaotic and deeply subjective award show that spun out of the Las Culturistas podcast.

What do we know about Bowen Yang's feelings toward Chappell Roan?

While it is often unclear how a comedian actually feels about a celebrity who ends up being referenced in a joke, it couldn't be more ironic that Yang literally has a long, well-documented digital footprint illustrating how much he loves and supports Chappell Roan.

Yang interviewed Roan for Interview Magazine as recently as August 2024, where he was literally described as a big fan of hers. That much was evidenced even more by their entire exchange, with Yang noting that Roan's vinyl record is displayed "front and center" in his living room, saying that he couldn't wait for her to be a musical guest on Saturday Night Live (which is now officially happening in November), and showing empathy toward Roan's struggles with fame.

Why does it feel so weird to accuse Bowen Yang of mocking Chappell Roan on SNL?

In case you missed it: Yang himself took a career break in July 2023 due to mental health issues. The comedian and podcaster announced that hiatus via an Instagram story that read:

"Taking a very short break from [Las Culturistas]. Bad bouts of depersonalization are f*cking me up bad, but I am doing my best to get better! Please take care, be soon."

One could argue that Yang's struggles with his career and fame, as well as his personal experiences with depersonalization, are totally unrelated to Roan's issues. That person could argue that this feels like a stretch… and, well, sure!

On the other hand, there's a very long list of Yang expressing his adoration and support for Roan in comparison to one moment on Saturday Night Live where he played a character that perhaps could be misinterpreted as "mocking" the singer.

If we're really forced to reach a conclusion about Yang's feelings for Roan — one that feels plausible after looking at the comedian's past statements and his own mental health concerns — there's just a lot more evidence that Yang wholeheartedly feels for Roan and sympathizes with her, and not much else to back up the conclusion that he just decided to make up a character with the literal intention of mocking Roan on the season 50 premiere of SNL, despite being a huge fan of hers and knowing that she was already booked to perform on the show in two months.

New episodes of Saturday Night Live air Saturdays on NBC and are available for streaming on Peacock.