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Did Michael Che make fun of Simone Biles? Comedian dubbed 'tasteless hack' for posts on gymnast

Comedian Michael Che was slammed on social media after his Instagram stories trolling Simone Biles went viral, but he later claimed he was hacked

Popular comedian Michael Che is suddenly not so popular. On July 29, the internet collectively slammed Che after he shared some jokes about Olympian Simone Biles. During the time of writing this article, Che has since taken down those Instagram stories and claimed that he was hacked, but it hasn't stopped the criticism. Screenshots have gone viral on Twitter, leading to widespread condemnation of Che.

In the past, Che has put up some rather memorable jokes. During the 2020 SNL Finale, he and host Colin Jost went viral for poking fun at Elon Musk and Grimes' baby's name. Under other circumstances, jokes on Biles would have probably been acceptable, but not right now. The gymnastics champion pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics due to mental health concerns, days ahead of her competition. The shocking news led the internet to dub her a 'hero' for highlighting mental health, which until recently was ignored in competitive sport. 

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Over the past months, the story of Biles has captivated many Americans, as she was widely considered to be a sure-shot medal winner. Unfortunately, that never came to pass after her exit, but she still remains a popular athlete. That's why the internet couldn't sit back when Che decided to troll Biles. Why the outrage? Here's what Che said.

'I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head'

The controversial series of Instagram stories were uploaded on July 29. His first story said, "man, I wanna make fun of Simone Biles". He then said, "I got like 3 mins of Simone Biles jokes in my head. Im going to the cellar tonight to say them into a microphone. As the dorky kids say I'm choosing violence." He then received a number of responses, which he reposted on his stories, along with ratings. 

Che rated a 'joke' about Larry Nasser as 9/10, and another racist one as 8/10. He even commented on the second joke, "now that's a good joke. Economical, referential, balanced. Good job." Judging by the screenshots, he had quite a few more, but only around four made it to Twitter. Sometime over the past few hours, it appears Che has taken down the Stories. They are no longer visible on his Instagram account. Here's a screenshot of some of them, which were uploaded on Twitter first by the news platform Baller Alert. They uploaded the screenshots along with the tweet, "Michael Che come on bro smh." Warning, some of the words might be offensive to some readers, discretion advised. 

'Here's the attention you ordered'

"Black Women BEEN told you about Michael Che... but once again y'all ignored us. But COMEDY right!? F------ hack," one person tweeted. One gender justice advocate said, "Larry Nassar sexually assaulted over 300 gymnasts including Simone Biles. Jokes about this immense violence are never okay. @hbomax @nbcsnl why is Michael Che still on your roster?" One user said, "Can we all stop liking Michael Che now? I’ve been saying for years that he’s a tasteless hack. Tonight proves it."

"Michael Che comes for people he thinks he can get away with dunking on. Trans women, Black women, sexual assault survivors. Judging by his flimsy "I got hacked" defense, it seems he had no idea how beloved Simone Biles is, or just how messed up it is to share a Larry Nasser joke," one person slammed. Another tweeted, "michael che is a b----. here's that attention you ordered, I guess."

One person tweeted, "I don’t know what is more offensive, that Michael Che created a platform for people to attack a Black survivor of sexual abuse or that he’s too lazy to even write his own jokes and is just amplifying trolls. Lazy and pathetic." Another angry user slammed him and said, "I say this from the depths of my soul f*** Michael Che for coming after Simone Biles in the most despicable and depraved way possible."

Hours after the stories were put up, Che put up an Instagram photo claiming he was hacked. "Can't believe they got me. I only do jokes about whites and cops," he said. Che added, "s'all good now, I changed my password and everything." It's unclear why he deleted that explanation. When we visited his Instagram profile, the only photo Che had up was one of the NBA draft. Everything else appears to have been erased.

Beyond that since-deleted apology, Che has not addressed the controversial Stories. His Instagram account is silent, and he hasn't yet issued a statement to the press. Biles hasn't commented on the matter too, but she doesn't have to. It appears the internet is taking up the fight for her, with Che trending on social media for the last few hours.