Leslie Jones is off to a controversial start at Saturday Night Live. The freshman writer on the long-running sketch comedy show has come under fire for her skit on the "Weekend Update" segment of the show, in which she made jokes about slavery.
After praising Lupita Nyong'o for being named People's Most Beautiful Person in the World, Jones went on to pontificate that her sex life would have been better during slave times because of her "breeder" build.
“See, I’m single right now, but back in the slave days, I would have never been single. I’m six feet tall and I’m strong,” she joked in the segment.
“I mean, look at me, I’m a mandingo...I’m just saying that back in the slave days, my love life would have been way better. Massah would have hooked me up with the best brotha on the plantation...I would be the No. 1 slave draft pick,” Jones said.
After sparking a Twitter outrage, Jones took to social media to defend her sketch and rant against "self-righteous" critics.

“Now I’m betting if Chris Rock or Dave [Chappelle] did that joke or Jay Z or Kanye [West] put it in a rap they would be called brilliant,” she wrote.

“Cause they all do this type of material. Just cause it came from a strong Black woman who ain’t afraid to be real y’all mad,” she said.

Jones was one of three Black women hired by SNL recently after the 39-year-old show was criticized for its lack of racial diversity. SNL producers have declined to comment on the Jones controversy.
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(Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)