What a super weekend for the Washington football team! Not only did it lose to the New England Patriots, but the team was also the butt of several jokes over its name, which—if you’ve forgotten—is a dictionary-defined racial slur.
First up: John Oliver, who devoted a Last Week Tonight segment to the team’s “Take Yo Panties Off” legal argument deployed in its ongoing trademark suit. The comedian also addressed the team’s name on a 2014 episode of his HBO show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgKIoS6acPk
Aziz Ansari‘s new Netflix series, Master of None, also riffed on the ongoing Change the Mascot campaign. In an episode about the limited roles available for Indian actors, Ansari’s character, Dev, considers blowing the whistle on a TV executive who made a racist joke. This is what happens when Dev visits an advocacy group:
Rick: That’s been on the docket since, like ’94.
Dev: Yeah, seems like it should have been one phone call, right? “Hey, that’s a racial slur. You mind changing that?” “Not, not at all!”
Rick: Yeah, I got kind of cocky last year when it got some traction. I even made a mock-up.
Dev: Cool. What is that?
Rick: This is my pitch for what they should change their name to: the Washington Breadsticks.
Finally, (via the Washington Post) Rob Riggle and Ken Jeong mocked the name on Fox Sports to the tune of Adele‘s “Hello”:
Late game interceptions fill D.C. with shame,
But at least they distract folks,
From our racist name.
It’s so racist.
What an honor.
.@RobRiggle's Week 9 Picks are an ode to @Adele. You can't miss this one! https://t.co/fWsdS2L2nq
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 8, 2015
Screenshots via Netflix