Opinion: 'SNL' likely broke FCC rules to give free airtime to Harris
Will Rogers said, “Everything is funny as long as it's happening to somebody else.”
Kamala Harris' presidential campaign can attest to the truism after the vice president appeared on "Saturday Night Live" three days before the presidential election.
Make no mistake, there is nothing funny about an apparent violation of federal law by NBC and "SNL."
With Harris and Trump locked in a close race, the appearance was a bonanza for the campaign. It also was presumptively unlawful.
A month ago, The Hollywood Reporter quoted "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels saying it was implausible that either Trump or Harris would appear on the show given the clear federal rules: "You can’t bring the actual people who are running on because of election laws and the equal time provisions. You can’t have the main candidates without having all the candidates, and there are lots of minor candidates that are only on the ballot in, like, three states and that becomes really complicated."
The "SNL" cast and crew appeared to take the opposite meaning from Michaels' warning. They decided to broadcast a virtual campaign commercial for Harris and later ask for forgiveness rather than permission.
The skit was hardly subtle in jettisoning comedy for sycophancy. Former "SNL" cast member........
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