Bill Burr’s controversial Saturday Night Live monologue about white women commandeering the ‘woke movement' divides viewers

Comedian Bill Burr has sparked controversy with his introductory monologue on the latest episode of US sketch series Saturday Night Live.

The notoriously provocative stand-up performed a routine which covered topics including “cancel culture”, Pride month, and the commandeering of the “woke movement” by white women.

Burr began his monologue by praising people who adhered to coronavirus safety measures, specifically the wearing of protective facial masks. However, the comedian then said that he didn’t mind if people refused to wear masks either. 

“Take out your grandparents,” he said. “Take out your weak cousin with the asthma, I don't care. It's your decision. If you're that dumb and you want to kill your own family members, by all means do it.”

Burr then addressed “cancel culture” – a term often used to pejoratively refer to the practice of publicly shaming or calling out people with objectionable socio-political views or actions.

“They're literally running out of people to cancel,” he said. “They're going after dead people now. They're trying to cancel John Wayne. It's like, God did that 40 years ago.”

He also said that white women had “hijacked the woke movement”, which, he said, was “supposed to be about people of colour not getting opportunities that they deserve”.

“Then somehow, white women swung their Gucci booted feet over the fence of oppression and stuck themselves at the front of the line,” he said. “I don't know how they did it. I've never heard so much complaining in my life from white women.”

"You guys stood by us toxic white males through centuries of our crimes against humanity. You rolled around in the blood money, and occasionally, when you wanted to sneak off and hook up with a black dude, if you got caught, you said it wasn’t consensual. Yeah, that’s what you did! So, why don’t you shut up, sit down next to me, and take your talking to?"

Burr also spoke about Pride month, joking that a month might be “a little too long for a group of people that were never enslaved”.

Many viewers criticised Burr for his use of the word “bitches” to describe women, and took issue with his comments about Pride month. 

“Bill Burr's opening monologue is just obnoxious and misogynstic. It's 2020. Someone tell him calling women 'bitches' isn't funny,” wrote one commenter on Twitter.

However, others defended the routine, including the writer Roxane Gay, who described the routine as “f**ing hilarious” and “so well crafted, minus the cancel culture part that bombed”.

“Bill Burr’s monologue (especially the part about historical complicity lol) would have been more or less fine if someone else had done it,” argued one viewer.

Stand-up comedian Tim Dillon tweeted: “We do this every time. No one is mad at Bill Burr. Everyone enjoyed it. Please stop.”