Season 48 of SNL premiered this past Saturday. Just a little while into the new episode, Kenan Thompson, guest star Miles Teller, and others came on stage in giant blue fur suits to star in a sketch about the Charmin Bear family. Instantly, the satirical spin on the famous TP mascot raised some eyebrows. Viewers familiar with Canadian filmmaker/actor/animator Joel Haver’s content noticed some eerie similarities between the SNL sketch and a sketch Haver had animated and posted to his YouTube channel a month ago. Not only did SNL copy the concept, but the character designs, living room setting, and premise of a son who doesn’t want to follow in his father’s footsteps wiping ass and instead wants to dance, as well. Essentially, SNL ripped off Joel. Here’s Haver’s response video to SNL’s sleazy move.

The saddest part of this debacle might just be that this isn’t SNL’s first offense.

In January 2021, SNL aired a skit riffing on popular Disney Pixar film Ratatouille in which guest star John Krasinski plays a guy who’s prowess in the bedroom can be attributed to the rat in his top hat controlling his every movement. Word on the street is that SNL didn’t think of this idea; in fact, it was popular comedy podcast CumTown that originated the bit. YouTuber Katie Hughes splices the clips together for us to see in her video calling out SNL on the thievery.

Hughes also called out SNL on stealing from CumTown’s ‘Woke Sopranos’ bit prior to this. She has a separate video on the matter here.

But that’s not all…

Comedian/YouTuber/radio personality Shane Gillis was invited to audition for SNL in 2019. Shortly after being offered a spot on their cast, he was ‘canceled’ and subsequently fired, but not before he had submitted content to them as part of his audition process. Fast forward to 2021, and SNL aired a digital short strikingly similar to a sketch Gillis uploaded to his YouTube channel Gilly and Keeves a year earlier. YouTube channel Comedy Horn released a video comparing the two side by side so we could come to some conclusions ourselves.

Gillis later speaks about SNL and stolen content as a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience. It becomes inextricably difficult to deny that the SNL writers' room is, as Rogan puts it, a “den of thieves” after the two discuss its morally debased atmosphere based on previous SNL star Jim Breuer’s accounts, as well as the fact that SNL underhandedly claims ownership of any and all content submitted to them as part of auditions, whether the comic submitting is offered a role or not.

The Charmin Bear scandal, while unsurprising based on their track record, comes as yet another blow to SNL, as general sentiment has been that the show has seriously declined in recent years.