Emmy Award winner Aziz Ansari will host Saturday Night Live on January 21.
He will be the first South Asian American to ever host the show, reports the Washington Post. Just four Asian Americans have played that role in SNL’s 41 year history. Two have been Chinese American, Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu. The others were part Asian. Bruno Mars’ mother is Filipino and Fred Armisen’s father is German and Japanese. Before he hosted the show, Armisen was also a regular cast member from 2002 to 2013.
Ansari was awarded an Emmy for outstanding writing in a comedy series along with Alan Yang for his Netflix hit Master of None. The show comes back for a second season this year.
SNL has been criticized for using its mostly White ensemble cast to portray Asians in a stereotypical way including in 2014 during a sketch on martial arts and early in its history with John Belushi playing a recurring character as a samarai.
FULL COVERAGE: Aziz Ansari will be SNL’s First South Asian Host
AsAmNews has Asian America in its heart. We’re an all-volunteer effort of dedicated staff and interns. You can show your support by liking our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/asamnews, following us on Twitter, sharing our stories, interning or joining our staff.
