February 12, 2017
Source/Saturday Night Live
Kate McKinnon plays White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway in "Saturday Night Live" skit on February 11, 2017.
In the department of outrageous headlines, White House senior adviser and South Jersey native Kellyanne Conway has become a legitimate rival to President Donald Trump. After pulling off the trifecta of coining "alternative facts," referencing a non-existent "Bowling Green Massacre," and unsubtly schilling for the fashion products of Ivanka Trump, Conway found herself the subject of a provocative skit on last night's edition of "Saturday Night Live."
Over the course of the past week, many have remarked on the furrowed face of CNN anchor and Philadelphia-area native Jake Tapper while discussing the topics of the day with Kellyanne Conway.
the look on jake tapper's face while talking to kellyanne conway... pic.twitter.com/NiQtNSh8Rt
— Nicole Cairns (@nicoleindc) February 7, 2017
The look on Jake Tapper's face is the look you give your mom when she brings up stuff from your past. pic.twitter.com/h0MPHaB7et
— Denizcan James (@MrFilmkritik) February 7, 2017
When somebody is straight up lying to your face @jaketapper #alternativefacts pic.twitter.com/14ojw3OtqX
— Brandon Pope ABC 57 (@BpopeTV) February 7, 2017
In a clip not meant for the faint of heart, the resurgent "SNL" chose to play off of a scene from the 1987 psychological thriller "Fatal Attraction," in which an obsessed mistress refuses to let an affair fizzle out, as a way to illustrate the tension between Tapper (Beck Bennett) and Conway (Kate McKinnon). It's a revolting, violent, cringeworthy and (to some) probably an offensive skit.
Reaction to the scene has been mixed, to put it mildly. Plenty have come out in defense of "SNL" for its willingness to be bold in its attack on Conway.
Good satire will always offend someone & great satire will offend nearly everyone #Kellyanne #JakeTapper#SNLSpicer#SNL "Fatal Attraction" pic.twitter.com/I9j2F8mgj4
— Ryma (@ryyma12) February 12, 2017
Brutal. Dark. Amazing. And totally warranted: Kellyanne Conway goes Fatal Attraction on #SNL https://t.co/SYlI9AwZEw via @BrowBeat
— Melissa Med Larson (@mel_med_larson) February 12, 2017
#SNL STANDING OVATION for the Fatal Attraction Kellyanne Conway skit! Spot on perfect! She is that scary & gets more desperate each day! 👏👏
— Rubymagic (@rubymagic) February 12, 2017
Kate McKinnon Goes All 'Fatal Attraction" on #SNL With Kellyanne Impression. It's uncomfortable and pure genius.https://t.co/RJ7HOtYu9J pic.twitter.com/LoGcxa9qiQ
— Instinct Magazine (@instinctmag) February 12, 2017
Others, including New York Magazine's Olivia Nuzzi, thought it was in poor taste and a misfire.
SNL just gave a gift to the White House with this sexist, unfunny Kellyanne Conway skit.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 12, 2017
Prediction: the White House will use that sexist skit to dismiss all criticisms of Conway and lying more broadly.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 12, 2017
Casting Kellyanne Conway as Glenn Close was a miscalculation on SNL's part. Will be interpreted as unfair and mean to a wife and mother.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) February 12, 2017
@olivianuzzi I agree completely. It was painful to watch. No woman deserves that. And what man would #SNL do that to? #Kellyanne https://t.co/0FVFBNPXmt
— Anne Linstatter (@AnneLinstatter) February 12, 2017
As a non-Trump #Republican #woman, I'm deeply disturbed by the double standard many have towards those they disagree with. #SNL #KellyAnne
— Kristi Mckinnon (@KristiMckinnon) February 12, 2017
Not sure about that Kellyanne skit. #snl
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) February 12, 2017
Regardless of where you stand, it's a clip that should keep you up at night and leave all of us wondering how Conway will respond, if at all. Tapper, usually ultra-composed on air, had only this to say.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) February 12, 2017
