Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez writes in a letter to NBCU that letting Trump host 'Saturday Night Live' would be 'a huge corporate blunder.'
- Oct 21, 2015
AceShowbiz - Donald Trump's upcoming "Saturday Night Live" gig is facing another protest. After Hispanic advocacy groups, it's now an Illinois congressman who takes action to remove Trump as host of the NBC variety show.
Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez has sent a letter to Brian Roberts, president and CEO of Comcast, and Stephen Burke, president and CEO of NBCUniversal, urging them to cancel plans to have the real-estate tycoon host the November 7 episode of "SNL".
"Having Donald Trump as a guest on every news and entertainment program is one thing, but allowing him to host 'Saturday Night Live' is another," Gutierrez, a Democrat, wrote. "It is a level of endorsement that says to America that every hateful and racist thing Donald Trump has said since the moment he launched his campaign is acceptable and no big deal."
He added in the letter, "Because he is a ratings and comedy bonanza, Lorne Michaels and 'Saturday Night Live' ('SNL') are giving the Trump campaign 90 minutes of free network airtime. I think I speak for a lot of Americans, especially immigrant Americans and Latino Americans, when I says that if 'SNL' is allowed to proceed, it would be a huge corporate blunder."
Last week, a coalition of Hispanic advocacy groups sent a letter to NBCU and launched an online petition to have Trump removed as host on "SNL". The Republican presidential candidate, however, is confident that NBC wouldn't dump him despite the petition.
"If they want to do the show with one-third the ratings, they might do that," he told "Fox & Friends" earlier this week. "I don't see that at all." He added, "I think frankly the ratings are going to be through the roof. Lorne Michaels is a very smart guy, NBC are very smart people."
In other news, Trump just canceled his appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" scheduled for Tuesday, October 20. He explained to Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity, "I have a big political event which I can't skip, and I told him, I said, 'You know I have this event, I can't skip it.' But I will be doing it in two weeks once I am out in Los Angeles."
Without Trump, Kimmel's tonight show would not be less interesting since Tracy Morgan and Jay-Z are set to appear on the show. Morgan was initially scheduled to appear on Thursday, but he's moved up as a last-minute replacement for Trump.
JAY Z & @jimmykimmel caminharam até a Barclays Center. pic.twitter.com/9Xo8wHOHoD
— Team JAYZ_BR (@99jayzbr) October 20, 2015
.@RealTracyMorgan @JimmyKimmel & @IamGuillermo visit the @BronxZoo TONIGHT on #KimmelinBrooklyn pic.twitter.com/0T6furHHdg
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) October 20, 2015
