James Adomian and Jake Weisman Call on SNL to Cast Gay Men
Adomian in character as Bernie Sanders on Comedy Central
James Adomian told The Daily Beast this week in an interview that SNL is biased against gay performers. Adomian was speaking to The Daily Beast from Austin Texas early this week after a solo stand up set in which he performed impressions of least six political figures. James is best known of course for his portrayal of Bernie Sanders to perfection. During the election, Adomian toured the continent in character as Sanders along with Anthony Atamanuik in a series of Bernie vs Trump comedic Presidential debates.
Adomian talked about SNL’s poor history with hiring gay men– Terry Sweeny was the first and only gay male full cast member in the history of the series, and that was back in 1985. And the problem isn’t just limited to gay men. Kate McKinnon is the only other existing openly gay castmember in the shows entire history. “It would be nice if they put a gay man on camera on that show,” Adomian said. “I’ve been out of the closet the whole time since I auditioned 13 years ago. You would think that they would have tried to put someone else on that was a gay man. It’s about time.” Adomian has auditioned for the show multiple times, and seems like a perfect fit for the show. Adomian isn’t accusing SNL of anything in their choice not to cast him, but another comedian, Jake Weisman is. Weisman created and stars in Comedy Central’s new critically acclaimed series, Corporate. He’s pointing fingers and told TDB that Adomian was passed over “Because he’s gay,” calling the show bigoted.
Adomian blames series creator and EP Lorne Michaels fear of losing middle-American dads who don’t want their sons watching a gay man on tv. Sooner or later the bias will change, Adomian said, but it’s up to Michaels whether he’ll be part of that change.
This isn’t the first time Adomian has been critical of the NBC sketch show. Last March when Alec Baldwin took shots at Adomian’s tour and debate partner Anthony Atamanuik, Adomian jumped into the fight defending Anthony. He also pointed out that Baldwin’s SNL Trump impression was derivative of Atamanuik’s.
