Aasif Mandvi Defends Michael Che’s Catcalling Comments: ‘He’s a Good Guy’

Earlier this week, former Daily Show correspondent and current SNL Weekend Update anchor Michael Che dove head first into hot water by posting a sarcastic “apology” to women after watching the must-discussed catcalling video. So when Che’s former colleague Aasif Mandvi went on HuffPost Live Friday, host Marc Lamont Hill asked him to weigh in on the issue.

“I know Michael, he’s a good guy,” Mandvi said. “I think he’s probably just pushing the envelope of comedy.”

Hill suggested that Che had apologized for his original comment, but in some ways the subsequent “apology” was even more sarcastic than the first. Ultimately, Che deleted both messages from his account.

“When you’re a standup comic, you get up and you try stuff, and you’re always kind of seeing how far you can push things, Mandvi continued, suggesting that Che simply wanted to “be a comic and talk about things in a way maybe the culture at large is uncomfortable with.”

“You do want to talk about things people are uncomfortable talking about, or it’s too sacred or religion or whatever, and you want to push that envelope,” he said, “so maybe he was doing that and his audience gave him the response that he got.”

Watch video below, via HuffPost Live:

And you can see the full interview with Mandvi, including a question from yours truly about Mandvi’s potential future as a “serious” newsman at live.huffingtonpost.com.

[Photo via screengrab]

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