Bowen Yang Weighs in After Criticism He Mocked Chappell Roan withSNLMoo Deng Sketch: I'm 'Supporting Her'

Mar. 15, 2025

Bowen Yang (left), Chappell Roan.Photo:Frazer Harrison/Getty; Taylor Hill/Getty

Frazer Harrison/Getty; Taylor Hill/Getty

Bowen Yanghas no time for his words to be misconstrued.

The next day, the comedian, 33, responded to media coverage of the sketch on his Instagram Stories as he shut down the idea that the show or the sketch had mocked the singer. “Oh geeez,” he wrote over a screenshot of a news article headline that read, “SNLMocks Chappell Roan as Bowen Yang’s Moo Deng Takes on Crazy Fans.”

“If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting then there it is I guess,” Yang wrote. “Everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable and even then we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever.”

During the sketch, which saw him dressed in a full hippo outfit to portray Moo Deng, Yang said he’d been “running around nonstop” as the “response has been overwhelming” to his newfound fame.

“But it has come to the point that I need to set some boundaries. Reminder: women owe you nothing,” he said, pulling a line almost directly from astatementRoan, 26, made in August.

Bowen Yang as Moo Dang the hippo and Colin Jost during Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live.Will Heath/NBC)

Will Heath/NBC)

Yang told fans, “Do not yell my name, or expect a photo,” as he called Moo Deng “your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo,” yet another direct comparison to the “Hot To Go” singer, whodeclared herself “your favorite artist’s favorite artist” at Coachella this year.

Colin Jostthen called Yang out for the comparisons he was making, as he told him, “Your life sounds a lot like Chappell Roan’s lately. Do you know Chappell Roan?““I’m 10 weeks old, Colin. Of course I know Chappell Roan,” Yang replied, before stating his stance on the singer’s recent statements explicitly.

Bowen Yang’s Instagram story.NBC; Dana Jacobs/WireImage; Bowen Yang/Instagram

NBC; Dana Jacobs/WireImage; Bowen Yang/Instagram

The day beforeSNL’s season 50 premiere, Roan had made waves once again asshe announced that she would no longer be performing at both dates of the All Things Go Music Festivalin New York City on Sept. 28 and in Columbia, Maryland on Sept. 29.

“Things have gotten overwhelming in the past few weeks and I am really feeling it,” she wrote in a post on her Instagram Stories. “I feel pressures to prioritize a lot of things right now and I need a few days to prioritize my health.”

Chappell Roan performs during 2024 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 16, 2024 in Manchester, Tennessee.Erika Goldring/Getty

Erika Goldring/Getty

The singer has been open in recent months about her struggles with her meteoric rise to fame, and in an interview withThe Faceearlier this month,she admitted she “might quit” music “if this ever gets dangerous"after sharing a story about fans in an airport who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“It’s dangerous now, and I’m still going. But that part is not what I signed up for,” she said.

“The vibe of this — stalking, talking s— online, [people who] won’t leave you alone, yelling at you in public — is the vibe of an abusive ex-husband. That’s what it feels like. I didn’t know it would feel this bad.”

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source: people.com